Second Chances
by BlueWings900
Summary: Blood gushed out of his wounds as he removed some of the bullets, daggers, the one lone sword, and needles. Abel groaned in pain and frustration, when he couldn't reach the bullets in his back. He could feel one bullet just by his heart, causing pain to shoot up his spine with every beat. Abel stopped himself as he reached for another dagger. If only he had a second chance.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

(Prologue)

"He's over here!" a man yelled to the small cluster of people. They all held rifles with silver tipped bullets and any other type of weapon that would inflict harm to an ordinary vampire.

Abel glanced at the man who was taking aim at him before entering haste. He could hear the echo of gun shots throughout the ally and all parts, of the once peaceful city. Abel staggered when he felt a bullet lodge itself into his rib cage.

"You murdered the empress!" a shriek filled the air, as someone jumped off the roof of a building and sent a kick at Abel's face. Sending him skidding into a nearby wall. The force of the kick was enough to knockout a vampire, never mind a human. "You'll pay, for everything!"

'I didn't kill the empress! She's my sister, it was Cain!' Abel tried to say, but couldn't. His throat was parched from all the months of running, and he hadn't spoken for nearly a year. Abel slowly got up to face the methuselah as he swung his silver sword toward Abel's neck. Jumping back Abel turned and entered haste, putting all his energy into this last run.

The world was in turmoil and everyone was after Abel. The Vatican was after him because in their eyes he was a heretic and a traitor. The New Human Empire blamed him for the death of the Empress. And the rest of the world wanted the large bounty on his head…

Abel collapsed on the dirt ground, a few miles away from any cities. He had exhausted any energy he had left, trying to get away. Abel forced himself to sit up right. Every movement he made hurt. His whole back was marred with bullet holes, and his arms and legs had bullets lodged into them, by the joints. Knives a daggers had cut into him countless times. A few surgical needles where protruding out of his pressure points. If he were an ordinary human he wouldn't have been able to move at all.

Blood gushed out of his wounds as he removed some of the bullets, daggers, the one lone sword, and needles. Abel groaned in pain and frustration, when he couldn't reach the bullets in his back. He could feel one bullet just by his heart, causing pain to shoot up his spine with every beat. Abel stopped himself as he reached for another dagger.

Was it really worth it? To keep running like this? No one wanted him alive anymore, all his friends were gone. He was a monster, dying would be his only way out. If they found him, they would no doubt do experiments on him and then send him to his death… that was, if they could find out how to kill to him. Most likely he would be tortured for the rest of his life. However long that would be.

Monster! Yes, it would just be better if he gave up. They were bound to capture him sooner or later. He was a monster, anyone who ever got close to him always suffered. It would be better if he just disappeared…

Abel closed his eyes, waiting for death to take him.

All he needed was a second chance. Just one chance to put everything right. He didn't care what the consequences would be… he would gladly give himself up, if that would mean the rest of the world would be at peace, but even that wouldn't do any good. Not now anyway… after everything that had happened, giving himself up wouldn't do any good and it would only create more trouble. That's why he had to keep running…

But… it, was just so easy to give up, and let go…

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Trinity Blood, nor do I own any of the characters. Also, I was asked to write this story by CashyHoray1.00, as a challenge.

Anyway, hope you guys liked it. Its the start of a really, really... really long story.


	2. Chapter 2

_Something… something was going to happen, he could feel it. Each blood vessel and carbon ion, yelled at him to wake up. He needed to save someone. Vampires were after her! He needed to save her and take the pope's daughter to the vatican… her? Pope's daughter? How, did he know this? _

_ A faceless figure of a girl dressed in a blue dress came to mind. She had blond wavy hair… no, they were supposed to be ringlets that cascaded down her sides. She was supposed to be wearing, red cardinal robes. An older version? How could he know all this?_

His eyes flew open, and his hand shot to his heart. He could hear his rough breathing echo throughout the catacombs. What had he just been dreaming about? It was all fogged over. It was probably another dream of his past and the crimes he committed. Abel bit the inside of his lip, afraid to go back to sleep, for fear of the nightmares of his past coming back to haunt him. Of course, how could he even ask for them to stop haunting him? He deserved it, to relive through all the horrors of what he had done. It was redemption. Abel slowly let his eyes close once more, yelling to himself that he deserved the punishment of seeing his past… and more.

Abel shifted tiredly to get more comfortable from where he lay by his lover's coffin. He couldn't have been there for long, seeing as he had just come back to the catacombs after he had completed the latest mission the pope had given. Hot tears streamed down his face as his memories of her death, haunted him. More followed when realization struck him. He wouldn't be able to stay here long, and would be forced to leave his love when orders for his next mission came.

Taking a deep breath, Abel forced himself to open his eyes, resting them on his lover's face. His hand reached for her desperately, even knowing the glass would prevent him from touching her.

Forcefully, Abel pulled his attention away from his beloved and looked at his reflection in the glass case. He looked horrible. His hair was messy and sat in clumps on his head. His clothes weren't much better, and for some reason they were a dirty brown color instead of the white he knew they were supposed to be. Perhaps there was a slight earthquake that caused the dirt and dust to fall on him, he mused.

Oh, well it didn't matter. What did matter was the fact his lover's coffin was extremely dirty from all the dust. Not to mention she was actually in one! Rage immediately became the lead emotion he felt, all of it turned on his twin brother.

Grunting his hand reached for his head as he attempted to massage his temples in an effort to recompose himself. Growling Abel looked at Lilith, desperate for the comfort she always seemed to provide. Sorrowfully he let his hand drop, and allowed it to trace the shape of her face over the glass. He might not like it, or even want to, but the fact remained that he needed to keep moving. He needed to help the terrans to repent for all the sins he committed against their race.

Abel looked away from his lover, and made his way through the dark catacombs. To a terran it would have been pitch black, but he could see just fine in the darkness. In fact he would have been able to make his way through the narrow passages and tunnels even if he couldn't see. He had practically memorized every nook and cranny of the place.

Rounding the corner Abel didn't look back from where he had just came. If he did, he knew he wouldn't have the strength to walk away from Lilith.

Closing his eyes, Abel allowed his legs to travel the length of the catacomb of their own accord. As he neared the exist he jumped back when the sun hit him. He put a hand to his eyes, God that hurt… and they hadn't even been open either! Abel blinked as tears began forming. Damn sun!

The sun was no more than a slight sliver over the horizon.

Opening his eyes to just slits, Abel walked out into the open. It was so bright, and his eyes were adjusting far too slowly for his liking. Abel felt his irate face turn into one of confusion as he stared at the buildings in front of him. He couldn't remember any buildings around here when he had come back just the day before… okay, well there was the vatican… but there were just too many buildings.

Abel took a step back and blinked, trying to figure out if what he was seeing was real or not. This was so confusing. If it hadn't been for the fact that his hands were shielding his eyes from the sun he had no doubt that he would have been scratching his head.

"I'm seeing stuff," Abel sighed to himself, 'it wouldn't be the first time.'

His ears alerted him to the fact he was no longer alone. Pretending that he didn't notice the methuselah, Abel turned around and stocked back into the catacombs. Hopefully they wouldn't follow him, and he could go back to sleep then wake up to find that he was indeed just imagining the city.

"Not so fast, terran," one of the methuselah hissed. Within seconds he was before Abel, and forcing him into a corner.

"Oh, hello there. Can I help you?" Abel asked innocently with a sheepish grin on his face. He fished his glasses out of his pocket, and placed them on his nose. He'd be damned if the pope found out he had disobeyed orders by not wearing the glasses.

"As a matter of fact you can," the methuselah said, grinning wickedly and licking his lips. "We're looking for a girl: Caterina Sforza."

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can't help you there," Abel said. Even if he had known who this Caterina person was, there was no way he would tell them. A slight frown pulled at his face, he knew about the Sforza family and their reputation, however he had never heard of a Caterina Sforza.

"What a shame. Looks like we have no further use for you," the lead methuselah smirked. At his words he and the four other methuselah with him leapt into the air.

(A little before)

Caterina was alerted to the fact something was wrong by the screams coming from main room, just down the hall. Despite the warning bells that went off in her head, she still cracked her door open but immediately regretted it at the sight that met her. Bodies of her loved ones littered the ground.

No! This just couldn't be happening! Opening the door farther, Caterina poked her head through it to get a look at the other side of the hall. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. They dropped to the ground only to see something which troubled her even more. Her father, lay there with his mouth open in a never ending, silent scream for help.

Voices sent chills up her spine, it was the only thing that kept her from screaming for the loss of her father. Ripping her vision away from the bloody hall, Caterina quickly stuck her head back into the room and closed the door as quietly as possible. Despite the fact she had tried to close it soundlessly, the creaking sound it made sounded like a roaring lion.

"Did you hear that? It could be that terran brat we're after," a cold voice echoed down the hall and drifted into her room.

Caterina felt her heart pounding. They were after her! The realization struck her: she was going to be killed. Her breath came to her in short gasps. Oh God, she was starting to hyperventilate. This was not good.

Eyes darting across her room, she finally decided that the only way out was to jump out of the window. Hiding under the bed or in the closet would do no good, if the men were vampires. The only safe haven was outside, in the open. The sun still hadn't gone down yet, and it was just above the horizon. Hopefully, God was on her side, and the sun would stay up long enough for her to escape.

But where to? Caterina's mind began to race. Oh, how she wished her family was still here to help her… Family… they were all gone now. Without them she had nothing more to fight for, so why should she run? There was no point in it all. If they killed her then she would get to see her family sooner right?

No! She wouldn't give up. She couldn't! She was her family's last hope. There was still a possibility that one of them could be alive. What right, did she have to give up anyway? She had none.

But where would she run to? The question popped up again. Caterina swung the window open, she could hear the fierce pounding of fists on her door. Crash! The door was ripped from its hinges and thrown into the wall, sending splinters in each direction. No! She couldn't die here! Caterina looked down, it was a twenty foot drop. She didn't even allow herself to take a breath before throwing herself to the ground.

"Damn sun!" one of the vampires growled in furry, as Caterina hit the ground and began rolling onto the paved ground.

She could feel the sting of a few cuts on her knees and hands, but it didn't stop her from jumping back to her feet and running. Where, where, where? Not there, definitely not there. The vatican was too far, those buildings weren't secure enough, she didn't want to involve innocent people.

"Ahhh!" Caterina brought her hands in front of her, to cushion the fall. A rock? At a time like this she tripped over a rock? "Ow," she moaned. Caterina looked at her ankle, it was sprained and by the looks of it bruised as well. Her eyes skimmed the area before her.

She was at the border of Rome and Milan. Looking back from where she had just come, she couldn't see any of her pursuers. No doubt they were bidding their time until the sun went down. Glancing at the sun, her breath caught in her chest. It was already halfway below the horizon.

The catacombs! It was right in front of her. Slowly getting to her feet, Caterina began limping toward the entrance. Somehow it was open. If it hadn't been for the fact she was running for her life, she would have found it odd, since it had been sealed centuries ago.

Entering the ancient grave, Caterina found a dark area to hide in. She didn't want to stray to far from the entrance since it was too dark to see in here. Her eyes locked on where the sun should have been. It had already disappeared behind the landscape.

"I'm seeing stuff," a hoarse voice said. Despite the fact it sounded hoarse as if the person hadn't drank any water, it also sounded smooth. Caterina also couldn't help but notice that the man also seemed to be irritated.

Taking a deep breath, Caterina allowed herself to relax. It didn't seem like the man was after her. Or maybe she was wrong. No more than a second, passed before a man stomped into the catacombs. The man looked pissed, and as if he were trying to avoid someone. His startling blue eyes landed on her hiding spot.

"Not so fast, terran," someone else hissed.

The silver haired man before her stiffened, and his scowl deepened before disappearing completely. He grabbed a pair of glasses from his pocket and put it on before turning.

"Oh, hello there. Can I help you?" the man asked. His voice sounded happy, compared to what it had been before and Caterina could see a… goofy smile planted on his face, as he looked at the vampires innocently.

"As a matter of fact you can," the methuselah said, grinning wickedly and licking his lips. "We're looking for a girl, Caterina Sforza."

Chills raced up Caterina's spine. Was the man going to turn her in?

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can't help you there," the silver head said with a shake of his head.

"What a shame. Looks like we have no further use for you," the vampire said. As he said this more vampires appeared and they all jumped into the air together before disappearing from sight.

No! Another person dead, because of her!

"Hmm, interesting. Must be nice to make weapons out of your limbs." What? The man wasn't dead! In his hand he held the bladed hand of the lead vampire.

"You're her bodyguard aren't you? I can smell the brat in here!" the vampire shouted. The other vampires next to him began sniffing the air.

"Me? A bodyguard? Sir, you think to highly of me!" the silver head said in mock shock. He still held the blade on the vampire in his hand. "You really think I could be a bodyguard with these lanky arms? They're like noodles! Now why don't you guys run along? The person you're looking for is obviously not here."

"Damn terran!" the five vampires jumped attacked the man again.

Caterina felt her hair stand on end. The strange man had whispered a few words and his hair began swirling up above his face. His eyes became a crimson red and a scythe began forming from the blood of his wrist. Fangs formed over the bottom of his lips.

"Watch out!" Caterina yelled a warning.

The scythe slashed through the vampires, before it switched directions and whipped around to those behind the man. The silver head then jumped into the air and back flipped, before slashing out at the remaining vampires taking them out with ease.

"Help!" Caterina screamed as a hand grabbed her wrist roughly. A blade was pressed against her neck.

"Ge- get away, monster!" the vampire screamed. Pulling Caterina with him, he began moving toward the exit. His eyes never leaving the strange man.

Caterina couldn't help but shiver, as heart beat quickened. It wasn't going to end like this, was it? She still needed to find a way to help her family. Caterina felt the wind buffet her face, as the vampire had no doubt entered haste.

"It ends here," the vampire grunted. He came to a complete stop by a tree on a hill, overlooking her house. It was a place she went to often. Caterina felt his grip disappear. Looking at him, she watched as his hand became a blade. He thrust it, aiming for her chest. She closed her eyes. She could finally be with her family.

**-Bang-**

Caterina opened her eyes when no pain came. Standing before he was the silver haired man.

"Who-"

"Who I am is not important. All you need to know is that I'm here to save the lives of humans," he said kindly. He extended his hand out to her, and helped her stand.

"My family!" Caterina quickly turned to look back at her house. "We need to get help! They're hurt-" Caterina felt the darkness surround her.

XXX

"You're quite the troublesome one, young lady," Abel chuckled to himself. He easily picked the girl up. Even from here, he could smell the death coming from the inside of that house. No one was left alive.

Well there goes, wanting to sleep for another few hours. Abel sighed to himself, and turned to the city that he was sure wasn't there the day before. A few possibilities occurred to him, but he pushed them away. There was no way he could have been in the tomb for more than a day.

Abel frowned, and looked at the peaceful face of the girl he was carrying. 'I can't believe she saw me,' Abel mentally hit himself. How could he be such an idiot? Taking out his glasses, Abel put them on. He needed to go to the vatican and tell them about this girl, and if he the pope saw him without the cursed glasses he'd be in for the yelling of his life.

Quickly entering haste Abel headed for the Vatican… Or what he thought was the vatican. Making sure to slow down, he walked out of the shadows and toward guards.

"Stop! Personnel only," one of the guards yelled. "Lady Caterina! What happened?" the guard demanded. The spear he held was placed defensively before him, as if he expected Abel to attack.

"I found the girl by the catacombs," Abel said truthfully. It seemed as if the girl truly was important. "I have reason to believe that there are Methuselah after her."

"How dare you, call the vampires, Methuselah!" the guard growled, looking ready to attack Abel. "Are you one of them?"

"Of course not!" Abel yelled in mock shock. "Now would you let me pass? I have things to discuss with the pope, and I want to get this girl to the medical ward. She fractured her ankle."

"What business do you have with the pope?" another man asked, as he approached the gate.

"I would like to keep that to myself," Abel answered. This was just too weird. He didn't recognize any of the men, and from what he could see of the vatican it had changed a lot.

"I'll be his escort, let him pass," the man ordered the guards. The guard in front of Abel gave him a warning look before letting him pass. "I'm Vaclav Havel, nice to meet you," the man said once Abel neared.

"Abel Nightroad," Abel said in response. "So are you a priest?" he asked, making small talk.

"I'm with the inquisition," Havel answered. "But I've known Caterina for a long time now… hahaha, actually I've never talked to the girl, but I would see her during mass. She sure, does look like her father..." he let the sentence hang. It almost sounded as if he knew something about the girl, and wasn't allowed to talk about it. "Ah, here we go."

Havel opened the door to the medical allowed Abel to walk in. He placed Caterina onto the bed before examining her foot. "Looks like she fractured her talus," Abel sighed and shook his head.

"I'll get a doctor and tell the pope she's here," Havel said and turned out of the room. Abel frowned, 'she?'

By the time the doctor and the pope had arrived Abel had already wrapped a tight bandage around Caterina's foot. He also put a splint in it, to keep it from getting worse. It would heal over time, but most of it depended on the girl, and how rough she was with it. Usually such a wound would require pins to fix, but thankfully the girl hadn't moved it to much once she fractured it.

"Thank God she's okay," the pope sighed. He took Caterina's hand into his own and stroked a loose strand of hair away from her face. Much like how a father would do to a daughter. "I'm so sorry Caterina, I know I can never replace what you lost, but at least allow me to make it up to you."

Once he was done whispering his… apologizes, to the girl, he turned back to Abel and Havel, who were standing next to each other on the other side of the bed.

"So you're Abel Nightroad… I was aware of your existence, since I became the pope… but I always assumed you would be… excuse me for saying this but, well, dead," the pope said, uncertainty laced his voice. "I see now, that I was wrong."

"It's a pleasure to be in your presence, your holiness," Abel said with a bow. He plastered a fake smile on his face. "If I may… what year is it, exactly? I seem to have been asleep for a while."

"It's 3051," Havel answered for the pope, looking at Abel as if he were crazy.

"That certainly explains a lot," Abel mused. He could feel his smile disappearing, but at the moment he didn't care. That meant he had been asleep for nearly 900 years. Not even methuselah could live that long… and what about Seth? Was she still alive?

"How does that explain a lot?" Havel asked, still looking at Abel as if he had just grown a second head.

By the look the pope was giving him, Abel could tell he also wanted an explanation. Sighing Abel shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said, it seems that I was sleeping for quite a long time. The last thing I remember was returning from a mission for Pope Gregory in 2223."

"What? Not even a vampire could have lived for that long! Are you telling me you're one of them? You do realize the church is against heretics, right?" Havel growled. He backed up from Abel and neared the pope. "

"I'm not a vampire, and I'm not a heretic," Abel stated, he had long since lost his act. "In any case, I'm bound to whoever holds the contract, which is the pope. So you don't need to worry about me attacking anyone here, unless he orders it."

* * *

**A/N:** Reviews are appreciated! Especially constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun brightened up the otherwise dull room. Caterina groaned, not wanting to get out of bed just yet. She knew it had to be at least 12 in the evening. On regular days, she would have been out of bed by 7 am, but getting up would mean dealing with the death of her family all that much sooner.

"Lady Caterina, I've brought you lunch," a smooth voice said through the door.

Caterina threw the sheets over her head. Thanks to the fact they were thin, she could see straight through them. The man she had met the day before, opened the door. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn when she first saw him, and was caring a tray with plates in one hand. He glanced in her direction before placing the tray on the table by her bed.

"You should eat my lady. I know you refused to eat anything this morning so you should be hungry by now," he said, with a small reassuring smile. Caterina froze when his eyes locked on hers. How was that possible when she had the sheets over her head? "If you need anything, Father Havel or I will be just outside the door." The man bowed, breaking eye contact before retreating out of the room.

Once the door clicked in place, Caterina got out from under the covers and looked at the food. It was a selection of salads, fish, and a slice of bread on the side. She frowned and turned away from the food, when a low grumble sounded. Caterina attempted to ignore it, but her stomach growled even louder.

She had no right to eat when the rest of her family was gone! She wasn't hungry! Caterina turned her head away from the food and glared out the window.

She was so focused on ignoring her hungry stomach when someone entered the room and put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and turn.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to s-scare you," a boy choked. He looked to be at least eight years younger then Caterina, to young for the priest robes he wore. His gray eyes locked with hers before he quickly looked away. "I-I'm Alessandro… I-I heard about you from Father. I'm sorry for y-your loss."

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me?" the pope asked Alessandro. He looked at Caterina before making his way to a chair on the opposite side of her bed. Sitting there, he took her hand. His face almost mirrored her own, but his had a mixture of concern and… love… "You look so much like your mother. Your mother had planned on telling you once you got old enough," the pope sighed and paused, contemplating on how he was going to come out with it. "Caterina... the man your mother had married wasn't your biological father… I am."

"Oh," was all Caterina could say. A small part of her was shocked, but the greater majority of her took it in stride.

The Pope… her father, drew her into a hug. "I know I can never replace your family, but I'm willing to try," he whispered to her. Caterina just nodded and returned the hug until he released her. His eyes were shining from his tears and he gave her a fatherly smile. "Alessandro is your half brother," he said, as he nodded to the boy who kept stuttering over his words.

"It's nice to meet you," Caterina managed to give him a small smile. It was reassuring to know that she still had family, even if they weren't people she grew up with. They were still blood… that's all that mattered right?

"Okay, you two. I know you're listening," her father called over his shoulder. A second later the silver haired man walked into the room along with Brother Havel. "These two will be your guards. There may still be some vampires after you, and I would rather not risk it," he explained.

At the word 'vampire,' Caterina saw the silver head, scowl slightly before pushing up his glasses. Caterina stared at the strange man. When she had first saw him, he had sounded irritated and wasn't wearing the glasses. But when the vampires came he had slipped on the glasses and started acting… strangely. The man noticed Caterina looking at him oddly, and gave her a big smile, with his eyes closed and head titled to the side.

Havel gave the man a nudge, causing him to open his eyes and look at Havel, questioningly. They exchanged a few words. Brother Havel looked a bit irritated with the man and the silver head looked sheepish.

"I'm Abel Nightroad," he said.

"Thank you for saving me," Caterina said. "Did you get injured?"

"Thankfully no, but I should be the one asking you that, not the other way around," Abel scolded, in a joking tone.

"What were you doing in the catacombs anyway?" Caterina asked.

"Visiting my… ancestor," Abel answered. The way he said it made it sound as if he didn't wish to talk on the topic.

"I have a meeting with the cardinals and a few priests from different churches. I'll see you when I come back," the pope said and turned around. "Oh," he looked back at her. "I also scheduled for a professor to come in. Since there are people still after your life I think it would be best if you didn't go to school."

As the pope turned back and head to the door, Alessandro gave his sister a timid bow before running after the man.

"Lady Caterina, I'm afraid I must also leave," brother Havel apologized. "Abel and I have agreed to do shifts, so I'll be leaving you with him until later this after noon."

"That's okay, I understand," Caterina replied curtly. Once Havel left, she turned her attention back to Abel who gave her smile that seemed fake. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Does it bother you? If you like, I could always frown."

"That's not what I meant." This man was strange. Each time she talked to him, he made a different facial expression. "Never mind," Caterina shook her head. She couldn't see any of the fangs she had seen the day before, or the black claws that grew out of his hands. "Are you a vampire?" she finally asked the question which had bothered her most of the day.

Abel frowned and looked at her. Caterina could tell he was thinking about how he was going to answer her question. Either he was going to tell her the truth, or he was going to make up a lie, or he was going to tell her part of the truth but not the whole thing. Either way, she wouldn't know if he was lying or not, until she got to know him better.

"Something like that…" Abel shrugged, as if pushing all his doubts away- on whether to tell her the truth or not. "I'm a crusnik, a vampire that drinks the blood of other vampires." As he said this he looked away from her, as if he were expecting her to run away, or scream at him.

Caterina frowned, why would he think such a thing? She had no reason to rebuke someone who saved her life, and was obviously there to protect her.

"So you're a cannibal?" Caterina asked for clarification.

"I guess you could say that, however I can't drink human blood," Abel shrugged, and took a seat by the window.

"Why?"

"You have a lot of questions, don't you?" Abel smirked, he still wouldn't look at her. Whatever he was looking at must have been interesting… "I've never actually drank any human blood. So I can't say for certain what would happen if I did. All I can say for certain is that the smell of human blood makes me nauseous."

Caterina saw Abel scrunch up his nose, as if just thinking about it made him sick.

"Why don't you have fangs, right now? You look perfectly human to me…" Caterina quickly explained. She took the piece of bread that was on her plate, and picked at it, to stop her stomach from grumbling.

"Do you know about the basilisk that make the methuselah what they are?" Caterina nodded at his question. "Well unlike the methuselah my kind have crusnik nano-machines in our body. It's a different type of virus. My kind are able to activate the crusniks into whatever levels we want them to be at, the higher the level the more vampiric we become. After a certain point though, we become more monster, then vampire… why am I even telling you all of this?" Abel shook his head, and ran a hand through his hair, untangling the ribbon that kept it up. His hair fell, freely down his back, blending almost perfectly with the white coat he wore.

XXX

William Walter Wordsworth, sprinted across the slippery wet grass. His cane in one hand, as he quickly typed in a number of symbols to get the door to the university to open.

The rusted door finally slid open. It was the only one that wasn't used by students or staff. This was possibly the only sliding door in the entire country of Rome. The building itself was used for lost technology artifacts. As a professor of the University of Rome, he was one of the few who had access to this room.

Once inside, William took out his pipe and lit it. One hand on the wall to his right, he let his hand slide as he walked along the wall before his leg bumped into something- a desk. Feeling the wall, he finally found what he was looking for, the light switch. Flipping it on the room was lit up.

William's breath caught in his throat. This room looked so much, like the lab where… where…

The room may have seemed spotless to just the average person, but William saw a scene that was forever burned into his memory.

His wife to be, lay on the floor in her own pool of blood. Her blank eyes stared intently at the note gripped in her hand. Her other hand was out stretched above her head. On the desk she lay next to, the keyboard had her bloodied fingerprints, as if she were trying to type something before she was killed.

Looking away from the place his lover lay, William's eyes traveled deeper into the room, following the thin trail of blood his wife had made in an attempt to make her dying message. Looking up, William saw a shadowy figure he hadn't been able to identify at the time. William scowled, he now knew who had been there that night. His colleague, his friend… no, his rival, and enemy.

_Isaak Butler_

Pushing away the demons of his past, William shook his head, drawing himself back into the present. The room he stood in now wasn't the same one his wife died in. It was just the lost technology room, he had dubbed as his own lab, even though it wasn't.

William walked past the area his wife had died and headed straight for the computer. Putting his hand on it, it whirled to life a second later. "Welcome Professor," the computer said in a programed female voice. "How can I be of service?"

"I need a copy of everything your hard-drive," William answered hurriedly. He had already wasted enough time, thinking about past events. He still needed to check on one of his students and meet a member of the Sforza family. William entered a data cube into the panel. The cube sunk into the metal as lights snaked around it. A bar on the computer showed how much had already been downloaded.

Moving to the computer next to the first, William quickly hacked into it. He was deleting all of his files and records. He also hacked into the londinium computers and deleted everything that belonged to his wife and 'colleague.' By the time he was done the data cube had already ejected. Pocketing the small cube, William turned off the lights and headed back into the rain.

There goes his professional attire. Kate was going to kill him if she ever saw how dirty his suit was. At least he didn't need to worry about getting caught since all the guards and students wouldn't want to walk through the rain, let alone the muddy grass.

Approaching the edge of the sidewalk, William waved a carriage down and handed the driver a few coins. "The vatican," he ordered as he jumped in. He would visit Kate as soon as he met with his new student… or he could transmit her signal to the vatican and talk to her there…

The carriage jerked to a stop, causing William to fly forward. "What's going on here?" he demanded.

"You picked the wrong carriage," the driver chuckled. William could hear him walking around the carriage to the right door. Not waiting another second William kicked open the opposite door and ran off the road. Damn, he left his suitcase in the carriage!

"Here terran, terran, terran. Come here my food source!" the driver chuckled as he ran after William. He didn't enter haste, and had a large smile on his face, as if he were enjoying tiring his prey. "I'll give you one minute. 1, 2, 3- ah who cares! 60! Ready or not here I come!" the vampire entered haste and raked his claws into Williams back.

William yelped in pain. His feet gave out on their own accord, sending him tumbling down the grass hill, and through a broken fence. William managed to grab onto the wall before plummeting into the putrid canal water.

The vampire stepped onto his fingers, causing him to scream out. Reaching down the vampire grabbed William by his shirt collar. The professor tried pushing himself away from the vampire but failed miserably. 'You know what they say: when all else fails do something unexpected,' William thought to himself. 'Well science is something of the unexpected, so…'

Twisting the hilt of his cane, a fire erupted from the end of it, scorching the vampire that held him. "What the hell!" the vampire screeched a released William, as he tried to put out the flame that was slowly eating away at his clothing. Taking this as an opening, William sprinted away from his hunter and quickly made a bee line straight toward the vatican.

"Look what we have here boys! A terran all by himself!"

XXX

Abel sighed when he smelt burnt methuselah flesh and human blood, coming in the direction of the canal. What type of methuselah would willingly visit Rome, anyway? Abel's nose twitched, as the two clashing smells got stronger. If it weren't for the human blood, he was certain that his fangs would be showing right now.

"What's wrong?" Caterina asked, having noticed him stiffen. Abel finally glanced at her, as she picked at her food. He gave her a confused look as if he hadn't a clue of what she was talking about. "You keep twitching. Do you need to go to the bathroom, or something?"

Abel scowled. "If you must know, there's a methuselah and a human playing chase right now," he stated simply. He frowned. If he didn't need to guard Caterina he would have helped the human.

"What are you doing here? Go help him!" Caterina ordered. Her steely gaze locked on him.

"I can't leave you unattended, my lady. As your guard I'm supposed to protect you, and I can't do that if I'm a block away, protecting someone else. It would be a different matter if Havel were here, or if the man was closer, but they're not," Abel reasoned. He matched her steely gaze, with one of his own.

"What if I went with you?" Caterina challenged.

"Then your father would kill me as soon as he found out," Abel stated.

"And if I walked out by myself?"

"Your ankle is broken, so you can't," Abel huffed. He eyed her foot under the blanket. "You might injure it more if you strain it, so I suggest you just sit there."

"I can't sit here when an innocent civilian is getting mugged!" Caterina protested. She flung the blankets away from her legs and swung them over her bed. "I'm going to go whether you like it or not, and as my guard you need to follow me." Her voice said, that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, and she gave him a look as if challenging him to question her.

"Lady Sforza you might have to amputate your foot if you put pressure on it," Abel argued. He saw Caterina hesitate slightly, before she looked away and gingerly began limping across the room. "My lady-" Abel cut off and entered a state of haste when Caterina lunged forward on her broken ankle. Catching her, he easily picked her up and walked back to her bed against her protests. "Didn't I warn you?"

"What if it's this professor person? He's supposed to be here any minute now, but he's not."

"I'm certain that William can handle himself," Abel stated.

"William? How do you know the professor's name? I'm certain that my father never said it," Caterina asked.

"Um- I… lucky guess…." Abel said, though the way he said it made it sound more like a question. He scowled as he thought on it. "Wait here, I'll go help the human," Abel grunted.

He didn't wait for an answer before heading to the canal. Abel scowled when he noticed a gang of four methuselah tormenting their prey. William's coat had three large rips, made from the claws of a methuselah. A few drops of his blood could be seen on the ground.

The four methuselah circled him, all of them licking their lips. One of the methuselah had the burnt remains of his shirt. His wounds from the flame had already healed.

"Get a load of this guys! Another idiot, came to feed us!" the methuselah with the burnt shirt smirked.

Abel ignored them and walked straight toward the professor. "Are you okay, William?" Abel asked.

"I'm fine, but who are you, and how do you know my name?" William asked.

"I'm Abel Nightroad. As for how I know your name… I have no clue," he said truthfully. Turning to the methuselah he said, "why don't you let us pass? I really hate spilling blood, makes me edgy."

"You think you can beat us? We're at the top of the food chain! No, lowly terran can come close to beating us!" the methuselah boasted.

"Lets go," Abel sighed, he headed for the carriage that was flipped over on it's side. Something told him this man always carried a suitcase around, and that it would be in there.

"Son, I really don't think we should turn our back to them," William said nervously, but he followed Abel anyway.

"Just ignore the idiots," Abel said. He was trying to hold his breath, as not to breath in the air that was polluted by William's blood.

"Where do you two think you're going?" the methuselah growled. "You're our midnight snack." He lunged for William's back, his claws extended. The other Methuselah were right behind him. William drew his sword out of his cane, to peri the blow, then sliced upward with his sword, to get the Methuselah to back off.

Abel continued tugging at William's arm, as if he didn't notice the attack. He opened the carriage door and reached in for the suitcase and handed it to William. "Here," he said. "I'll be right behind you, just go through that street to get to the vatican." Abel pointed in the direction.

"What about you?" William questioned, not liking the sound of what Abel was suggesting. "I can't leave you here."

"Yes, you can," Abel insisted.

"You two aren't going anywhere!" one of the methuselah snarled. Sighing Abel pulled out his gun and fired, it four times. One for each methuselah, making sure that he didn't hit any vitals. "Silver?" the methuselah growled in pain. He reached for the bullet which had lodged itself into his knees.

"Hurry up! If they get the bullet out, they'll heal and chase us down!" Abel yelped, as he sprinted into the street.

"You're a very interesting young man," William stated, once he was sure that the methuselah were not pursuing them. "Not many people your age would dare face a vampire to save someone they never met," he explained.

"Mostly because people my age are nothing but skeletons," Abel mumbled under his breath.

What was that?"

"Never mind," Abel said quickly.

He fished out his temporary ID and William did the same with his visitors pass. Abel showed the guards -to the vatican- his ID and led the way into the hospital wing where Caterina was staying.

"Lady Caterina hurt her ankle yesterday, so she's in the medical wing," Abel updated. "We'll take care of your injury there."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews I've been getting. Please continue reviewing this story.


	4. Chapter 4

Upon entering the medical wing, Caterina had gasped at the wounds the professor was sporting. Abel couldn't blame her. It might not have seemed like much, but by the smell of it, William was bleeding way more then he should have. A thin trail of blood could be seen, leading up to where he sat.

"Stay off that foot," Abel warned Caterina. Already knowing what the child was thinking. He made his way to the cabinet and took out a roll of bandages and disinfectant.

Abel heard her huff, and mumble something about him being bossy. "What happened?" she asked, after she was done complaining about how Abel was acting. Abel glanced at her, and noticed she was looking at the professor, so he didn't say anything and instead continued to tend to William's wounds.

"It was the wrong place, wrong time, sort of thing," the professor admitted. "But that is something of the past," he paused for a second. "I'm William Walter Wordsworth, a professor from the University of Rome," he sighed at the mention of the university. "Pope Gregorio, requested that I come and teach you. As we both know: you can't go to school for certain reasons."

"Caterina Sforza," she said with a slight nod. She somehow managed to get up and hobble her way to the bed across from the one William sat on. Abel gave her a worried look, which she paid no attention to, and continued talking to the professor about what she would be learning.

"So what do you plan to do with your life?" questioned the professor, once they were done with the small introductions. He took out a wooden pipe and lit it. Abel frowned. After dealing with his putrid blood, Abel now had to deal with second hand smoking… didn't anyone see the problem here?

"I'm not sure," Caterina shook her head. "I was always raised to be the next duchess of Milan… and I still want to be… but after that attack, I want to do something more with my life. I don't want revenge, I just don't want anyone else to suffer what I've been through."

"You could become one of the three Cardinals," Abel suggested. He had just finished wrapping the bandages around the professor's torso, and tied a small knot to keep it in place. "It'll take years of study, but if you work hard enough you could become a cardinal by the age of 19. Considering you're also the duchess of Milan will help, not to the mention you are the child of the pope, even if it's illegitimate or other wise."

"You seem quite knowledgeable about the course of power within the vatican," Willaim observed. A cloud of smoke hovered over his face, as he spoke. He didn't seem the least bit affected by it. Humans are so weird.

"I read a lot of books…?" Abel said, though the way he said it made it sound more like a question.

William nodded and scrutinized Abel as if assessing how smart he was. "And what about you? What do you plan on doing with the rest of your life?"

"I'm the Pope's pawn. Nothing more and nothing less," Abel stated.

"Well surely you must have a goal," William argued. "Even if you are one of the Pope's men, you can't be planing on freeloading off the church. You should at least get educated in priest hood."

"Me a priest?" Abel asked, he felt like laughing. "That's the most..." Abel paused, realizing the people in this room were most likely Catholics. "I've never learned about any religion before." Well that was one of the reasons he was against it, just not the full reason.

"Which is why you can learn now," Caterina chirped in. "If I want to become a Cardinal I'll first have to become a sister, so we'll be in the same classes."

"I'm all for you, becoming a Cardinal and doing whatever it takes… however I'm not going to be a priest," Abel said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. The church would have rather killed him then let him take one step into the church. If they found out what he was, they would most likely label him as a heretic and send him to his death.

"It's required for all priests to take a few prerequisites at the college. Most of it is the basics, such as literature and math. There's also a few religious classes you'll have to take. Maybe you two can go to the University of Rome together. Abel, the worse that could happen is you decide not to become a priest, but you'll still be able to use those classes as credits."

"That's a great idea, however people are still after Caterina," Abel argued.

"Which is why you can be there to guard me," Caterina stated.

"Then why is William here?"

"To teach Lady Caterina, of course," William replied. "Even if she does decided to attend the University, I'm still charged with caring for her education."

Why did this conversation feel so familiar? Any second now someone's going to walk through that door, and say: 'That's a great idea!' or something along those lines. This was ridiculous, he was a crusnik for crying out loud! Like he'd ever wear one of those priest robes… okay, so it was actually easy to imagine himself in one… and he did have Lilith's rosary. But that wasn't the point.

"I really don't think that's a good idea…"

"I think it's worth looking into," Havel said as he entered the room. "You going to college that is. However I'm against Caterina going, seeing as her life may still be in danger."

"Which is why, Abel will be there."

"What happens if vampires attack you while you're in school?" Abel protested. "One man is hardly enough to defend someone from a gang of vampires."

"You didn't seem to have any problems yesterday/ earlier," bother William and Caterina stated at the same time.

"William, what I had done was nothing more then a bluff. Lady Caterina, what you saw was merely luck. Those vampires hadn't eaten in days," Abel lied. They had looked a little skinny, but most vampires were, considering that they used up a lot of energy and calories, using haste.

Abel could see Caterina glaring at him, and William was again studying him. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Havel looking between the three of them. Shaking his head as if disappointed, but he seemed more disappointed in Abel and Caterina then he did for William.

"Keep me out of this. I'm neutral," Havel said.

"Don't we need identification papers? Because I don't have any. Besides I'm far to old to be going to college," Abel sighed. He rested his chin on his hand. They were not going to make him go to college, and they sure as hell weren't going to get him into priest robes.

College was just the start of it! Once he was done, he was going straight into priest hood, and would need to do all that communion, junk. Not to mention praying every singe day, and blessing the food, and praying for everyone's well being. He didn't even believe in God! How was he supposed to pray and do any of that stuff, if he didn't even believe to begin with?

"There have been people the age of 70 who have gone to college. As for your identification papers, it'll be enough if we have the vatican vow for you," said William.

"I'm about 14 times that much," Abel mumbled, making sure the humans wouldn't hear him.

"Besides you're only 20. That's not old at all," Caterina said.

"And you're only 15, that's young compared to someone who's 16 or 17 years old," Abel replied, trying not to laugh at the fact that she thought he was 20. "So if you compare your age to someone that's 20, then that's very old."

"So if you're old then that must make the professor an elderly, and brother Havel an ancient fossil," Caterina stated. She gave both of the men a small smile to say she was sorry.

"No, 29 is older then 28, just as someone the age of 30 will be older then someone the age of 29. But 30 is still young compared to someone the age of 31," Abel yawned.

"You're not making any sense," Caterina stated and at the same time Havel said, "what's your point."

"I never said I was trying to make sense," Abel pointed out. "My point is that I'm-"

"20 years old, and will be attending the University of Rome," someone said. Abel turned and frowned, that hadn't been what he was going to say. It had been the exact opposite. Abel's eyes landed on the pope… great, it just had to be him. The one guy he couldn't say 'no' to.

"Sir, didn't you have a meeting?" Abel asked. He couldn't be serious, could he? Didn't he know what Abel was!

"Not happy to see me?" the pope smirked. "The meeting ended sooner then I thought it would." His smile was quickly replaced by a scowl as if deep in thought, before pulling himself back into the present. "You'll be attending the University with Caterina, starting in two months, once the new semester starts."

"Bu-"

"No: if's, and's, or but's," the pope ordered.

"So am I going to-"

"Become a priest? Yes."

"Fine, but don't expect me to actually try getting good grades. I'm only there to guard Caterina," Abel said.

"You'll need to try to get into the University," William, he sounded irritated. "In order to get into any university you'll need to take a test."

"Humans are weird," Abel mumbled. "So when can I take it?"

"Next week, but you should at least have a month to study for it. So I suggest the one that's coming up in two months," William suggested. "I've seen your recent grades," he turned to Caterina, "so it will be fine if you took it next week."

"I'll take it next week," Abel declared. "It shouldn't be to hard."

"You can't simply take the test without studying and hope you do well," William protested. Gah! He sounded just like one of those scientists Abel had hated when he was a child. For that matter so did the pope!

"You worry to much," Abel said in a much lighter tone then the one he had been using awhile ago. He pasted a goofy smile on his face and slipped his glasses on. Smile: check. Glasses: check. Fake split personality: check. Irritated… check.

"Okay…" Havel said. "Now that, that's settled, it's my shift."

"Wow! It is!" Abel shouted and looked at the clock, in glee. "How time flies! See you in the morning Lady Caterina," he called and walked out the door with his perfected goofy smile.

(A week later)

Abel gasped for air, his eyes flew open and he bolted up right. His nightmares were getting worse each time he slept. Sometimes he would be a villager looking for someone… and sometimes he would be the person that everyone was after.

Bullets would rip through his cassock, and pierce his already bruised skin. The methuselah would come at him with their claws bared, and continue to strike him. Clawing at his flesh, gauging deep lines into his body.

Other times it would be something totally different. It would always start out with him being happy, until it was all ripped away from him. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't change the outcome of any of his dreams. They were worse then his nightmares of Lilith's death. They all ended with him… with him… he couldn't remember. Damn it!

These dreams were so different from the ones he had in the past. They felt real… Not that the other ones hadn't, but these were vivid.

Abel took a deep breath, and peeled off his sweaty shirt. He reached for his white coat on the chair and easily slipped it on. Judging by the fact it was still dark outside his (bodyguard) shift/ test wouldn't start until another five hours. Curse his nightmares! He hadn't been able to get more then 1 hour of sleep in the past week!

For once in a very, very… very long time, so long that Abel was actually quite proud of himself; he felt like punching something. Ruining his, Good-Thoughts-Only goal. Although, he did technically cheat by sleeping for nearly 900 years... Mulling over such things would just lead him in circles, Abel sighed. With his temper it was bound to happen sooner, or later. He should just be thankful that he hadn't gone through with his thoughts yet.

Huffing ever so slightly, Abel stepped out of the room and made his way to the suite Caterina was given. As he walked along the hall, he pulled out his glasses and placed them on his nose. Like expected Havel was diligently guarding the door to the extension of the first room.

"Excited to take the test?" Havel asked.

"I'm dreading it," Abel said truthfully, with his goofy smile. He kept repeating to himself, 'smile, smile, smile.'

"Did you study at all?"

"Nope."

"If you pass, it will surely be a sign from God."

"And I'll send him a prayer of thanks, like all the other times he's helped me in life," Abel said. Hah! As if! He hadn't prayed at all. The closing thing he had ever gotten to praying, was picking up a bible and setting it on his table near his bed. He hadn't bothered to open it yet.

"You should get back to bed," Havel sighed. "You need to be well rested for the test and the application. It takes a whole day to process so you'll be up until midnight."

"I just had some sugar," Abel lied, he rubbed the back of his head as if embarrassed. "I tried going back to sleep but couldn't. I thought sugar would help so…"

Havel shook his head, he had a teasing smile on his face. "You should have known better. I swear, you act more like a seven year old."

"I can act serious if I wanted to be!" Abel protested. Pushing his glasses up, and giving the man a look of horror when Havel gave him a questioning look. "I'm not lying!"

"I never said you were," Havel responded smoothly.

Abel gasped and shot him another response, which Havel quickly countered. They talked the next few hours away, about nothing in particular. Most of their conversation was about Havel's life, since Abel would only give short answers about his own life and would always change the topic. He had a feeling that Havel noticed his reluctance to talk about his past, but whether or not he was right, he didn't know. While they spoke to each other, a sister came to deliver food to the two of them as well as Caterina.

A few hours later, Caterina emerged from her room, dressed in a casual dress with a sandal on her left foot. Her right foot had a brace on it, to help her keep it in place while she walked.

"Good morning," Caterina greeted and gave both of the men a calm smile. "Where's the professor?"

"I'm here!" William cried. He opened the door and put his hands to his knees as he panted for air. "Sorry I'm late. I needed to visit one of my other students."

"Are you okay?" Caterina asked.

"I'm just dandy," William replied and stood up straight. He took out his pipe and placed it in his mouth. If he didn't smoke so much then he wouldn't have been panting like a wild boar just a few seconds ago. "Now then, lets go catch a carriage to the University."

"Why? It's only a few blocks away," Abel said. He glanced at the clock, they still had a lot of time before they needed to be there. Everyone gave him weird looks as if he were crazy. "Never mind."

"Of course you could always walk by yourself, while the professor and I take a carriage," Caterina said.

Was that a challenge? Abel was almost tempted to do just that, and get there before they did. He also got motion sick, so walking would be better for him. Of course, he could walk but then that would cause people to be suspicious of him, and warrant him more attention then he wanted.

"Are you crazy? I was only kidding," Abel shouted. "I'm taking the carriage! You can't expect me to walk that far!" He gave them both a look of horror.

XXX

Caterina glanced at the clock then at Abel. He was sitting a few seats in front of her, twirling his pencil between his fingers. His test booklet was closed on his desk. How could he have finished so fast? They weren't even 10 minutes into this section! He must have guessed. He was going to fail.

_Concentrate Caterina! Concentrate!_ Catering shook her head and looked at her booklet. She couldn't get distracted by him! Ugh! Her head hurt from all this thinking. Her train of thought trailed away and she found herself thinking about Abel. _Concentrate! _She almost screamed the word at herself. When was this test going to end?

_Focus! Read the passage! Come on brain, think!_ She really felt like guessing right now. No, that wouldn't do! Caterina took a deep breath and flipped the page, she would get back to it later. Maybe if she stared at something else she would be rejuvenated.

Hey it worked! Now only 10 more questions to go! Thank God this was the last section of the test. After this, it would be applications and finally they would get their results.

"Pencils down," the advisor said.

What? She hadn't even finished yet! Hopefully the other sections of the test were better then this one… Caterina picked up her small bag and pencils. Then caught up with Abel and walked with him to the next office they needed to go to for the application.

"Were you even trying on the test?" Caterina finally asked, once they were away from prying ears. They weren't supposed to talk about the tests at all.

"Of course I was!" Abel protested.

"Really, because you were done with most of the sections within the first 10 minutes of it starting," Caterina asserted.

"Well it was hard… so I might have skipped a few questions," Abel admitted.

"You should have studied more! You'll need to retake it next month."

Abel mumbled something and it sounded suspiciously like, "I wish I could have failed. I don't want to become a priest."

"So what do you want to be then?" Caterina questioned, snapping Abel out of his thoughts. He looked at her sharply, as if he couldn't believe she had head him.

"A priest," Abel said. He was obviously lying! She heard him loud and clear, and he knew it!

"I should start getting used to calling you Father Nightroad then." She saw him scowl out of the corner of her eye.

"Just don't expect me to answer to that name," Abel joked. "Ah here we are," he stopped at an office and opened the door to let Caterina in.

* * *

**A/N:** From here I might start ruining a bit of the original time line to the TB novels, but if you only watched the anime or read the manga then I won't be ruining anything. Oh, and if you didn't know: I didn't read any of the novels except for the first one, which is why I'm saying that I **_might_** be ruining the timeline.

Please review, they help to motivate me.


	5. Chapter 5

This must have been the worst scores Caterina had ever received on a test. They were horrible, and yet somehow she still managed to make it. Caterina folded the parchment and turned to William. "I'm really embarrassed to have gotten such scores," she admitted. A slight blush crept into her normally stern features.

"Don't be, you're much younger then others who have gotten worse. Now the person we should really be concerned about is Abel," William sighed. "He must be taking his results poorly seeing as he's been in the room for awhile now."

Caterina nodded and looked at the door Abel was behind. It was too bad they didn't have windows. Caterina jumped when the door swung open and Abel stepped out. He was wearing his usual goofy smile, but his eyes seemed somewhat pissed.

Someone called him from behind the room and Abel's smile vanished. He spun around, "It was dumb luck! I didn't cheat and no, I'm not smart!" Abel shouted. "I don't wanted to discuss quantum physics with you! Or how methuselah came to be!" he stomped up to Caterina and put another smile on his face. "Hi, lady Caterina!" he said cheerily. This guy could give anyone a whiplash with all his personality changes. "Did you pass?" Abel asked kindly. None of his anger was evident in his voice, the only thing that betrayed him were his eyes.

"She passed," William answered for her. "But may I ask why you suddenly yelled at the principal, dean and a few other professors of this university?"

"I wasn't yelling at them, I was repeating what one of them had said, and we started laughing about it… hahaha. It's an inside joke," Abel said. "Er, can we please go?"

"We can, but if you didn't pass we'll need to reschedule your test."

"I passed," Abel said quickly. "But it was all luck, and I guessed on everything, so my score was horrible."

"It wasn't horrible!" Caterina didn't miss the scowl that passed over Abel's face, when one of the men from the room spoke. "It was magnificent. I would say, he's by far the smartest twenty year old I've ever met!" Instead of looking at the man, Caterina amused herself by watching Abel and his facial expressions. Yup, total whiplash.

"It was luck!" Abel protested, his face becoming one of horror.

"You got a hundred percent! There's no way it could have been all luck. Some of it had to have been knowledge based, or at least educated guesses," the principal argued. He was backed up by the nodding and agreed murmuring from the other professors.

"If I was as smart as you make me out to be, I would have figured out _why_ I wear glasses," Abel said. Wasn't that obvious? He wore them because his eyesight was poor. That was the only possible reason for someone to wear glasses… unless he thought they were cool, or something.

"I'm sorry, but we really must get going," Willaim butted in and Abel sighed in relief.

"No fair William. You always get the unique students," one of the female professors said.

"Have you seen him with the regular students?" one of the other professors asked. "Because he-"

"Come on you two, it's late," William interrupted. He ushered both her and Abel out of the building.

Abel relaxed, the farther they got from the building. Once they got to the street both he and William waved a cart down and jumped in. Caterina noticed how Abel had closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall, almost as if he had a headache. She wouldn't be surprised if he did, considering that one of those professors had a really squeaky voice.

If she was stuck in the room as long as Abel had been, with that woman, she would have gone insane.

Caterina leaned back in her seat. Her score was really bad. She would need to work on all subjects. William, would most likely get her stared on all her classes, to get a head start. Caterina looked back at Abel, she still didn't know how good his test scores were. Okay, so the principal had said he had gotten a hundred. But how was that even possible? Abel couldn't have spent more then 10 seconds on each question.

The cart jerked to a stop, and William filed out, opening the door for her and Abel. Upon stepping out, Caterina looked at the sky. It was completely black and the only thing that lit it up, were the two moons. The stars were hidden by clouds.

Today was certainly a busy day. Sighing Caterina followed William into her sleeping chambers. Abel was following closely behind them. Caterina could guess why: her father and Havel had both made a big deal about knowing both of their scores once they got back.

"Abel can I see your test scores?" William asked. He slowed his pace to allow the other man to catch up. Abel reluctantly handed it to him and William just looked at it, continuing his strides to Caterina's room. "Did you really, not study?"

Abel seemed to think on this for a while, before answering. "I borrowed a few books from the library and studied them."

Caterina found herself frowning at the answer. She had been in the library with William and Havel in the mornings, for the past week. The Library they had was large, but not large enough that she wouldn't notice him. After all they had sat at one of the tables by the door. That meant Abel needed to pass them in order to go in or out of the library. William also seemed to notice his obvious lie, but nodded anyway.

Seeming not to notice their reaction, Abel opened the door and entered the room.

(A month later. First day of school)

Sighing rather loudly, Abel entered the large classroom. It was big enough to fit over fifty students. There were six longs rows of desks, each two to three feet of space had a chair to go with it, giving each student enough room to be comfortable. The desks were ordered in a stadium fashion, so that even those in the back row could see the front of the room.

The three walls were painted cream, while the forth was glass, allowing them to view the wonderful gardens. At the front of the room, the professor had set up an old projector… well it was new to them, but it was extremely old technology if you lived in the empire or knew about pre-Armageddon times.

Abel's eyes met Caterina's as he made his way to the seat at the back of the room. Caterina had seated herself in the front of the class room.

While Caterina was set on becoming a great student, Abel was determined to fail all his classes. Or at least come as close to failing as he could get without the pope yelling at him. Of course he didn't know what the pope expected from him, so for now he was going to get as many F's as he could possibly get. Meaning, doing absolutely nothing.

Propping his elbow on the table, Abel set his head in his hand and looked out the window. He played with a coin, making it jump over his fingers, then disappear and reappear. Feeling a few of the students eyes on him, Abel flicked the coin in the air and caught it, setting it on the desk, signaling the show was over.

The student sighed and turned away from him. Beginning to chatter happily about the week long break they had gotten. Those who just started college, such as Abel and Caterina, continued flipping through their books and looking at their schedules. The bolder ones, had gotten up and decided to chat with the other students.

Abel felt out of place. He played with the collar of the black jacket, the pope had given him. The pope had given him an hour long lecture about how his clothes were out dated. He had hired a seamstress to get him fitted, and even bought him a few sets of clothing. For a pope, he sure did care a lot about frivolous things.

The professor for this class, finally told all the students to be quiet and get seated then started his three hour lecture. Sighing Abel opened his book and held a pencil in his left hand, as if he were writing notes. He wasn't listening and instead, continued staring out of the window with his head propped on his right hand.

After the first hour, the professor had handed out their itinerary and popped a disk into the projector. The newer kids had gasped when they first started watching the video. Apparently only the kids from wealthy families had the privilege of watching videos. Caterina of course, was one of those wealthy ones, so she didn't gasp when they had put the video on. She didn't even look at in a awe as all of the other students did when they saw 'recreated' lost technology at work. The more he thought about it, the more Abel wanted to laugh.

Ignoring the video, Abel looked over the rubric. Most of it seemed easy enough. A few written essays here and there, worksheets and group work. There was also a planed field trip into the mountains that was supposed to extend into their math, science and religious classes. Abel placed the paper into his book, the edges sticking out by centimeter or two. He would worry about all the assignments after the pope found out he wasn't doing any of his work, and then once he did find out, Abel planned on doing his best to just barely pass. It would also get that principle off his back.

The principle had asked Abel if he would like to be in an advertisement about the University of Rome. Of course Abel had refused, but the man kept sending mail to the vatican trying to get in touch with Abel. That had caused more trouble then it was worth. Abel had to get to all the mail before the pope did, and needed to dispose of it properly. He had a feeling William noticed, or at least knew what the principal was up to, since he kept giving Abel weird looks and he sometimes found William by the mail box.

The video suddenly ended, and Abel found a paper in his face. The girl in front of him continued waving it around. Abel took the stack from the girl, taking one then passing it down to those to the right.

"This is a pop quiz," the professor said. It was followed by a bunch of moans from the students. "Don't worry you won't be graded on this. I merely want to find out where the class is, as a whole. So you don't need to put your name on it. However if one person, puts answers that are really off or if one person doesn't answer it, I will assign everyone a twenty page essay," the professor said in a low voice. It traveled around the classroom loudly and slowly at the same time. People here had such weird accents.

Abel looked at the parchment. He scribbled a few answers here and there, filling in the spaces when it asked for them, or picking the right answer. _Easy, easy, easy, trick question but still easy, okay now that's just dumb. Logical, easy, easy, logical, logical. Pft- whoever doesn't get this question is an idiot. _Abel put his pencil down and put his head in his hand… again. The other students were still working on the test, so Abel stared blankly at his, pretending to be having a hard time with a question.

When the bell finally rang, everyone shouted in joy and picked up their bags. They grabbed their tests and handed them to the professor. Abel followed the person in front of him, not quite understanding why everyone was so excited when most of them had other classes to go to. Once he was out of the room he headed in the same direction Caterina had gone. He could see her blond hair bobbing up and down with each step she took. She was only a few feet away from him, but Abel decided to keep his distance since she was talking to someone.

According to William one of his special students would be attending the same classes as Abel and Caterina. Abel guessed, the person who walked… floated next to Caterina must have Kate, seeing as she was a hologram.

Abel was pulled back to the present when Caterina slowed her pace and allowed Abel to catch up to her. "Remember William's student, he always mentioned?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer before she continued. "Well, this is Kate," she introduced the hologram.

"Oh, hello. Nice to meet you," Abel said cheerly. He put out his hand, knowing full well Kate couldn't shake it.

At his hand, Kate frowned and crossed her hands over her chest. "Are you an idiot?" she asked, bluntly.

"Huh?"

"I can't touch anything! I'm a hologram!" she ground out in a voice that said, 'duh!'

"Sorry!" Abel exclaimed. He scratched the back of his head, and began chuckling worriedly. "My eye sight isn't too good, you see. Why to me, you look as solid as Caterina here. If not even more..."

Kate threw Abel a disgusted look and disappeared from view. She would most likely appear in their next classes. One of the only perks of being a hologram.

"Abel," Caterina began, turning to her friend. "Did you do that on purpose?" she asked, with a quizzical look on her face.

"Of course not!" Abel said, waving his hands in front of him as if it were the craziest thought he had ever heard.

Caterina rolled her eyes and began walking again. She shifted her bag from one shoulder, onto the next. "So, when are you going to stop acting like an idiot?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. Unfortunately I can't see the future," Abel said. He caught up to Caterina and took her bag. Unlike him, she actually carried all her books with her.

If he could see the future he wouldn't be here. He would be with his family at the empire. The closest thing he had ever gotten to seeing the future, was an odd sense of deja vu, which kept getting stronger with each passing day. But it was probably just his old age. After all, old people do tend to hallucinate.

"Do you want to sit by me, this time around?" Caterina asked.

"Not if you're sitting in the front," said Abel. "If I sit in the front the professor will notice that I'm not paying attention." At his answer Caterina turned her head to look at him. She frowned, giving him a disapproving look. "Plus it's the old lady with the squeaky voice that we met a month ago." They both shared a shiver as they thought about the lady. He didn't tell her the full truth as to why he sat in the back.

If he sat in the front of the room, he wouldn't be able to watch the class. He would only see what was happening in the front of him. However at the back, he could be aware of everything happening around him. On top of that, people in the front rarely turn around to notice those in the back, so he wouldn't need to worry about any unnecessary attention during class hours.

"Then I'll sit by you."

"I don't think Kate would want to sit by me," Abel chuckled. "But you're free to do whatever you want."

"You have a point," Caterina sighed. "Fine. I'll sit by her in this class, and try to bring her around… You know, you really should have known better then to try and shake her hand. Even if you can't see."

"I can't help it if I'm blind," Abel lied.

"I bet your glasses aren't even prescription," Caterina huffed.

Abel looked at Caterina out of the corner of his eye. Taking off his glasses he handed them to her. "They're for someone who's eye sight is 0.001."

"Your eyes are that bad?" She put the glasses to her eyes and yanked her head back and blinked. Then she looked through them again then looked at the area before her without them, repeating the process a few times.

"Stop doing that before you ruin your eyes," Abel warned, ignoring her question.

"So are they better or worse, than 0.001?"

Abel suddenly found a sudden interest in walking and ignored Caterina's question. A few minutes later, they arrived at their next class. "Can I get my glasses back now? I can't see a single" blurry "thing," Abel said, keeping the word blurry out of his sentence. Caterina sighed and handed them to him.

XXX

Isaak Butler turned to the two students that just entered the room, then looked at his pocket watch. They were five minutes early, but they were still the last students to arrive at class.

"Nice of you two, to join us," Isaak said cooly, as the students hurriedly made it to their desks. He recognized the female as Caterina Sforza. The male must have been her body guard, he looked a lot like his Mein heir. Isaak glanced at the papers in his hand and flipped through the student's profile.

The male was Abel Nightroad. Interesting. Nightroad- Night_lord. _Isaac shook his head, even if he was one of the gods, Isaac wasn't here for him. He was here as a warning to the pope. He was also there to warn a certain colleague that he was still alive, and was aware that William deleted his files.

"Mrs. Patterson had some family issues to attend to, so I'm here as a substitute," Isaac reported. He began wiring the projector. "She should be here tomorrow," Isaac said as he faced the head of the projector towards the class. No one seemed to notice his mistake except for Abel and Caterina. Abel looked cautious and had stiffened, while Caterina looked worried as if he might need help.

Isaac smirked at the cluelessness of the other students. Pushing up his glasses, Isaak turned on the projector. The light blanketed the whole room and everyone froze. Isaak's eyes went to the only other person with glasses. Fortunately it seemed the light also worked on Abel, seeing as different glasses prescriptions reacted differently to the light. The glasses Isaak was wearing, made it so he wasn't affected by the light.

"Well then class, this ends todays discussion!" Isaak said, with a bow to the frozen students. He allowed his disguise to drop as he walked out of the room. "What will you do now, Pope Gregorio?"

XXX

The room blurred in and out of focus as Abel moved into a sitting position. His gun was lying on the table across the room and a shirt was on the chair next to his bed. Suddenly his body moved of its own accord and snatched up the shirt. A sharp pain shot up his spine and ended near his heart. Again his body moved without his command and reached a hand to his heart. What's going on here? Why couldn't he move his body?

Removing his hand from his chest Abel slipped on his shirt, this time he ignored the sharp pain that raked through his body. "Caterina…" his mouth opened against his will. Caterina? What about her? Despite the fact his voice was hoarse, Abel could tell he had conflicting emotions about her. But why? What could she have done to make him feel this way?

"I can't believe she… she…" Abel frowned inwardly since he couldn't seem to make his body listen to him. What the hell was this? Why was he caged in a body that he could get not move? Was this some kind of sick joke? Maybe it really was just a dream… Abel shook his head. And what did Caterina do? Finish the blasted sentence!

The tapping of feet alerted Abel to the fact people were approaching the room. Immediately, Abel's body jumped to its feet and sprinted to his gun. By now the people were already outside the door. A few curses slipped from his mouth as he jumped over the large table in the middle of the room then made a lunge for the window. The glass shattered and his vision blurred again.

Blinking Abel found himself above a large city. The beating of his wings told him something was wrong. They weren't calm, as they should have been. Instead they were moving rapidly as if he were in a fight and injured.

Suddenly Abel's body lunged forward, gripping his scythe. He caught sight of his hand as it turned from a shade of grey to black. Wha- Blue markings raced from his hand and up his arm. This never happened before. It was- but it couldn't be, could it? 100% activation?

His body swung his scythe at Cain who easily blocked his blade, but he didn't notice the tail which struck him from the side. Growling, Cain sent a blast at Abel sending him a few feet back, which was slowed by Abel using his own energy.

But that wasn't even possible! He didn't have the same powers Cain did!

"Cain your tyranny ends now!" Abel's mouth opened into a snarl of it's own accord. He then sent a bolt of lighting at Cain, who also sent one of his own at the same time. The two collided and made the shots look purplish in the middle. Ignoring the fight between lighting the two of them darted over the display and charged at each other. Out of the corner of his eye Abel saw a flash of green zipping past him. Holding two twin tuning forks.

* * *

A/N: CashyHoray1.00 wrote one of my paragraphs for me. I sort of stole it. *Sheepish grin* Ah, anyway hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please don't forget to review. And I appreciate all the reviews I have gotten for this story so far.


	6. Chapter 6

"Is he ever going to wake up?" Caterina yawned into her hand. They were in Abel's room at the vatican. "Can't we just wake him up?" Caterina looked at the test William had given her and passed it to him.

"I'm afraid not," William shook his head, as he dumped the contents of his pipe into the trash can. He replaced it with new tobacco and lit it. "Usually light would go through our optic nerve then it would go straight to occipital nerve. However the device that the man used… it bypasses all those normal rules and triggers another part of our brain. Normally the light would cause someone to freeze and seize their motion. However since Abel was wearing glasses it obviously had a different affect on him. If I had to guess, I would say he's trapped in his own memory."

"How do you know so much about this device?" the pope asked. He had been acting much more serious the past few days. It seemed as though everyone was aware of 'why,' except Caterina, but she knew better then to dig for information.

"It was one of the many inventions my colleague and I worked on," William answered, as he corrected Caterina's test. He blew out a puff of smoke, as if to hide his emotions. Somehow Caterina could tell he wasn't on best terms with this colleague of his.

"Is there anyway to counter it?"

"If you're asking if there's anyway to wake someone up, then my answer is no. It's to dangerous to forcefully wake the person up. Abel will be confused as it is, since we moved him. However there is a way to prevent the light from being affective and that's to wear certain type of contacts or glasses. I can have some made by tomorrow morning…" William said and the pope nodded in response. Excusing himself William, grabbed Abel's glasses from the counter and walked out of the room.

A few minutes later a member of the inquisition entered the room. The pope didn't bother to turn to him, but the man tapped his foot to the floor twice and exited the room. Caterina didn't miss the frown that crossed her fathers face as he turned and also exited the room. Closing the door shut behind him.

"Report," Gregorio ordered. He said a few more words but Caterina didn't catch it, so she made her way closer to the door.

"Bishop Lando is has been reported dead sir."

"I… see," Gregorio whispered. "Please arrange for his body to be transported back to Rome… have you found anything else concerning the rouge vampires?" there was a short pause, in which the man had probably answered with a shake of his head. The pope growled, "at this rate we'll need to send in an army. And even that would cause even more problems…"

Caterina put her ear to the door, she couldn't hear a thing since her fathers voice had lowered even more. What was going on here? What could vampires do that could cause the pope to be so aggravated?

Sighing Caterina backed away and returned to her seat by Abel's bed. She couldn't hear anything as it was and getting caught trying to listen in on her father's conversation didn't appeal to her.

Abel would have known what to do, Caterina thought. In the past month she had known him, he had become her protector and one of her best friends. He always knew what to say and do in every possible situation. Sometimes she even had a feeling he could read her mind. He always managed to put her at ease, if he was up right now he could probably do the same for the pope… even if he was an idiot… Caterina smirked at the thought.

The door opened and Caterina turned. The pope was holding a glass cup with thick red liquid in it. He had a serious expression on his face as he looked at Abel. Caterina looked back at Abel, his lips had curled up and he let out a low throaty growl. For some reason his fangs hadn't elongated. Surely even his canines would have grown if he smelt blood… unless it wasn't vampires blood. So then it was human blood, but didn't human blood have a negative affect on him?

_(Flashback) _

_"I'm a crusnik, a vampire that drinks the blood of other vampires." As he said this he looked away from her, as if he were expecting her to run away, or scream at him. _

_Caterina frowned, why would he think such a thing? She had no reason to rebuke someone who saved her life, and was obviously there to protect her. _

_"So you're a cannibal?" Caterina asked for clarification. _

_"I guess you could say that, however I can't drink human blood," Abel shrugged, and took a seat by the window. _

_"Why?" _

_"You have a lot of questions, don't you?" Abel smirked, he still wouldn't look at her. Whatever he was looking at must have been interesting… "I've never actually drank any human blood. So I can't say for certain what would happen if I did. All I can say for certain is that the smell of human blood makes me nauseous._

(End of flashback)

If just smelling human blood made him nauseous, then drinking it would surely cause him even more pain.

"What is that?" Caterina asked. She made sure her voice wasn't accusing, even if she felt like yelling at him. It wasn't his fault if Abel never told him, he couldn't drink certain types of blood. Getting up Caterina put herself between her father and Abel. She could only hope her father didn't take her posture or facial expression as rebellion against him.

The squeaking of the mattress behind her was soon followed by the ruffling of sheets then a _thud_. Caterina turned to look at Abel who was panting heavily on the ground besides her with his back leaning against the bed. One of his legs were tangled up in the in the blanket and his hair was disheveled. "Where-" Abel said, but then stopped almost as if he hadn't meant or expected that one word to even come out of his mouth.

"You're at the vatican in your room," Caterina answered. She didn't make a move to go near him though. William had said he would confused when he woke up and upsetting a confused crusnik didn't sound like a good idea to her… at least not until he got his barring straight. And it seemed like she made the right choice too, since his eyes shot to her and he began gasping even harder and pushed himself as far away from her as he could get until he bumped into the wall.

"Caterina? What- but- bed- I thought- sleep- school- smell- wha-" Abel continued spouting out words without making any complete sentences.

"Yes I'm Caterina, who else could I be? I'm guessing you mean what happened. Well our sub, shined some light in everyone's eyes causing us to all freeze but you were wearing glasses so it had a different affect on you. You've been asleep for two days, which is why you were on your bed. As for that smell, its human blood," Caterina tried answering all of Abel's incomplete questions.

"Ugh- I do hope you won't make me drink that…" Abel said, finally managing to get something intelligent out of his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Caterina asked. She took a step closer and helped him untangle himself from the clump of blankets.

"I will be once I can't smell whatever is in that cup," Abel joked. He put on his customary smile. Despite his fake smile, it still looked like something was bothering him.

"Abel meet me in my office once you're dressed," Gregorio interrupted whatever it was Caterina was going to say.

Abel looked down and noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. Blushing he darted to the other side of the room and quickly slipped one on. "I'll see you later then, lady Caterina."

"Wait!" Caterina blurted, just as Abel exited the room. He turned to look at her with a questioning look, his head sticking out from the side of the door. Caterina waved for him to come back in. Abel closed the door as he entered the room, sensing Caterina had something important to say. He raised an eyebrow. "Bishop Lando died, and my father mentioned sending in an army to take care of rouge vampires. I want you to find out more about the rouge vampires and report back to me," Caterina said, as though the words just came tumbling out of her mouth.

"You shouldn't concern yourself with these things," Abel frowned.

"Abel," Caterina said threateningly. She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest. No matter what, she was going to beat it out of him even if he was against it. It shouldn't be to hard since he still looked confused about his whole predicament… right? "I plan on becoming a cardinal, so I think it's only natural that I be concerned about these things, even if I'm only a child right now."

"Your time will come, but right now your only concern should be school." Abel bowed and turned, leaving the room.

'Lets see you deny my orders once I become your boss!' Caterina thought to herself. 'You won't be able to boss me around once I get older, just you watch!

XXX

"Enter," Pope Gregorio called a second after Abel knocked. "One of our bishops have been murdered by a group of rouge vampires. We believe they migrated from Londinium to Guernsey, however they tend to hop between their island to Lutetia. One of my sources have told me there's at least a hundred vampires on our territory. Every night they attack the citizens and each time they get away. I'm afraid we won't be able to handle our obstreperous guests without taking military action," he paused for a second and looked through a folder. "Pope Gregory has left a detailed report of the type of missions you can do. So do you think you can handle this? Its a mission for an entire army so I'll understand if-"

"No, that won't be necessary. I'll take care of it. Give me two weeks," Abel said.

"I'll arrange for transportation," Gregorio said. He began scribbling a few notes on the folder.

"I have my own form of transportation," Abel said quickly, the sooner he left the sooner he could go back to thinking about his weird dream. He made a move to leave but the pope stopped him again.

"What about living expenses?"

"It's taken care of. I'll leave by nightfall… You should also assign another guard to Caterina, to help Havel. William should do perfectly, I know he's not a pushover in fights and Caterina trusts him so it shouldn't be a problem." Abel bowed again before finally taking his leave.

Abel walked through the dark corridors before coming to William's door. He didn't even bother to knock before entering. Abel almost needed to do a double take at how messy his room was.

"William, are you here?" Abel called, expecting the professor to jump out from under a pile of books and failed experiments. He took another cautious step into the room and closed the door. Despite the fact William had just moved into the room a month ago it looked as if it hadn't been inhabited by any live creature in a century. The items that littered the floor and bookshelves were covered in dust… or maybe it was soot from all of William's experiments. Well whatever it was, Abel wasn't going to take his chances, incase it turned out to be radioactive.

"William?" Abel called again. He neared a door which extended into another room.

"I'm busy!" William shouted just as he opened the door. "Oh, you're up!" William cried. He pried off the goggles he had been wearing. Abel couldn't help the small smile that spread across his face. The professor's face was covered in dirt and soot, except for the area his goggles protected. He looked like a human version of a raccoon. "I hope you'll forgive me for adjusting your glasses to make them immune to the affects of the light manipulator."

"Actually that's what I came here for. I wanted to know how I can prevent it from happening again," Abel chuckled.

William handed him his glasses and Abel took them but didn't put them on. "So I take it, it wasn't a pleasant memory you relived?" he gave Abel a sympathetic smile.

"Memory? It wasn't a memory it was a dream. None of that stuff ever happened," Abel said, confusion etched into his voice.

"I've never heard of it causing people to have dreams. Only relive memories and freeze the brain," William pondered out loud. He shrugged, "but I suppose it's possible." William frowned and took out his pipe, "perhaps it's a lost memory…"

"Not possible." If it were true then he could activate the crusnik to 100%. Abel sighed, if the crusnik was at a 100% then he would be like _HIM, _and Abel was most definitely not crazy. "If what I saw was true, then the world would be in chaos right now because of angels and fairies falling from the sky," Abel muttered to himself. "Anyway, I also came by to tell you the pope will most likely assign you as Caterina's second guard. I sort of recommended you."

"That no problem at all. I'll be seeing you later then," William said, somehow managing to keep the pipe in his mouth as he spoke without holding it with his hands.

From there, Abel quickly made his way back to his room. He began packing a small bag with items he may need, ignoring his guest who sat on his bed with her arms crossed. Grabbing his white coat Abel slipped it over his black shirt he was wearing then put on a tattered cape, putting the hood over his head and swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

"Mission," Abel responded.

"You're part of the army my father is sending to take care of the vampires, aren't you?" Caterina asked, in an accusing voice. When Abel didn't answer this only added fuel to the fire. "And I take it you won't even report to me on what my father told you!"

"I'm not your subordinate. If you want to know what your father is keeping from you, with good reason, then I suggested you get one." Abel looked passed Caterina's shoulder at the window. The sun had already set. "See you back at school," Abel said with a sing song voice. He opened the window causing cool air to enter the room. Looking back at Caterina he gave her one last smile and jumped out. Thanks to his dark coat, it looked as if he had disappeared into the night.

* * *

**A/N: **I feel like I'm child-izing Caterina more then I should... Oh well, you'll start seeing more of her (grumpy) strong willed personality in the later chapters.

Mokat- Reflections Curse is on hiatus. Both flame800900 and I have hit a road block on that particular story. So I can't say for certain when the next chapter will be published. We're still working on it, it's just not coming along as smoothly as we'd like it to.


	7. Chapter 7

Abel jumped onto the balls of his feet and pointed his toes up in an attempt to stretch his stiff caff muscles. It had taken him exactly two days to get to Lutetia, and running for forty eight hours straight, was bound to have it's setbacks.

One such setback was being hungry enough to eat as much as a whole squadron. His stomach let out small growl, as if having read his thoughts._ Mission first, food later,_ Abel thought to himself.

Ears twitching, Abel quietly weaved his way between the buildings. None of the house lights were on, even the street lights were off. They casted dark foreboding shadows over the houses. The Lavish city, Abel had visited all those years ago now looked pallid, as if something haunted the people living here. Namely the Methuselah.

Abel's eyes narrowed as he heard air whipping around an object that was aimed for him. He side stepped just in time to avoid being hit by a rock. Turning, Abel's eyes easily pierced through the darkness and landed on a small group of men.

They all held guns and rifles, about half of them were trained on Abel. Their finger rested on the trigger as they took aim. Those who didn't lift their guns up, simple glared at Abel as if daring him to make a move.

"Get out of my city, vampire," the man in lead yelled. He hoisted his rifle, and it joined the other's that were all pointed at Abel. The men in the back of him all nodded their heads in agreement to their leaders order. "We're tired of your thievery and senseless murder. Leave now, before I shoot." He cocked his gun.

Blinking innocently Abel put up his hands in a sign of peace. "I'm not a methuselah. I'm the pope's agent. I was sent by pope Gregorio to help the people here."

"Prove it!" one of the men spat. He looked to be the age of nineteen, only four years older then Caterina. He was the only one not carrying a gun. Instead he had a utility belt which hung on his left shoulder and drooped to his left hip. Bombs were clipped to it for easy access.

Abel sighed. That was one question he hadn't been looking forward to answering. Mainly because he really couldn't prove it. He had his pass which gave him entrance into the Vatican however he didn't have any forms of identification stating he was the pope's agent. He opened his mouth to answer.

"That's okay, I believe you," the first man said, he lowered his rifle. "I'm the archdea- I mean the new bishop, Niel."

"I'm- ," Abel broke off and narrowed his eyes at the men behind Niel. They still hadn't lowered their guns. At his look they reluctantly dropped their guns. The only one who still held his weapon threateningly was the nineteen year old with bombs. Abel blinked. "Watch out!" he shouted as he shoved the bishop behind him.

Abel raced forward, his eyes locking on a methuselah. He leapt over the small group and caught the clawed hand of a methuselah that was aimed for the boy. Abel gave the methuselah a few quick jabs to the stomach.

In his peripheral vision a swift figure sprinted passed them. He was headed toward the beach.

The methuselah Abel was holding doubled over. "Damn terran!" he tried clawing at Abel with his other hand. Abel twisted it and turned him so his back was toward Abel. He hit the back of his neck and the methuselah fell forward.

Without a second thought Abel raced after the other methuselah. The group of humans wordlessly bound the first methuselah as Abel disappeared from sight.

The methuselah Abel was trailing held a small sack in her hand. No doubt it held stolen items of some sort. When they came within sight of the ocean she suddenly sped up. She skimmed over the first twenty feet before leaping onto a floating log, then jumped onto another floating debris to the next.

She was heading toward a cruise ship about a mile away from shore. Abel waited for a while before following after her.

When he snuck onto the ship the smell of Methuselah instantly hit him. It almost felt as though they were making their own little colony on the boat. The only other smell of something living other then the methuselah was one, lone human. Abel sniffed the air as he hid behind a blue tarp.

Now that he actually thought about it, the whole ship was blue. Even the methuselah he had been following had been wearing blue clothing. It was no wonder the humans never reported a boat being so close to their shores.

Soon the sun peaked over the horizon and the methuselah went below deck. Abel waited for another twenty minutes before he finally moved away from his hiding spot. His ears twitched as he listened for any sound of movement from the people below him, as he headed to the captains cabin. Judging by the noise and the smell of liquor the captain was the human and also the only one up. Peaking into the small room, Abel saw the captain laying on a couch talking to himself as he practically inhaled the bottle of wine in his hand.

Shaking his head, Abel moved to the steering wheel and set it so the main mass was set to catch the wind heading west toward Londinium. Then he sliced through the wheel, so no one could steer the boat with it. After that was done he snuck into the hull of the ship. Since this boat was powered by the wind and not technology, the only other way to steer the ship was to manually move the rudder.

Abel crouched down once he got to the rudder of the boat. He didn't want the ship to sink just yet. If it did then it would mean the immediate death of all the methuselah on board. They would either burn to a crisp of drown. Abel grabbed a steal bar and jammed it between the body of the ship and the part of the rudder which stuck out. As he wiggled it in and out he heard the screeching of metal being bent from the outside of the boat. After a few more rough jerks of the metal rod he finally heard the snap. The rudder was broken.

Abel pulled out the rod. The small hole created by it allowed a little water to trickle into the boat. It wasn't enough for it sink just yet, so Abel ignored it. Now all he needed to do was get the drunk captain and get out of here.

With the ship slowly the sinking, the methuselah would be under water in the next twelve hours. Lucky for them, Abel didn't believe in useless bloodshed so they would only be forced off of the ship once the sun was down. He even extended his kindness by setting the mass to head for londinium before destroying their steering system. They did come from Londinium after all. All he was doing was just returning them to their home land.

Swinging the door to the Captain's Cabin open, Abel stepped in. Eager to return to land. Water plus Abel, just didn't mix well.

"Who are yah? A new vamp?" the Captain asked. His words slurred together as he spoke. He smelt strongly of alcohol, it almost overpowered his human smell. Abel grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and hulled him over his shoulder. God was this man fat! If Seth were here, she'd be calling him a beach whale. "Hode it, wea er yah taking me? I'll call the vamp's if yah don let me go rae now!" He even whistled like a whale!

"You will? So are you another idiot who'll do anything for money and power?" Abel asked. He looked over his shoulder at the squirming whale, but immediately regretted it when the man's putrid breath slammed into Abel full force. Did people still not figure out how to make breath mint or gum?

"Who yah callin an idiot?" the captain growled and began struggling out of Abel's grip.

'You, who else would I be talking to…? Stop moving fatso,' Abel thought to himself.

Suddenly the captain screamed. "Help! Intruder!" Almost immediately a couple dozen methuselah appeared. All of them wore heavy clothing to block out the sun.

"Well there goes hopping I could finish this mission in one day… I could have broken my record," Abel sighed. He released the Captain's shirt and the man fell on his but with a quick yelp.

"How'd you get on here?" one of the methuselah questioned. Abel recognized her as the one he had followed.

"Same way you did," Abel shrugged. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm only here to take this man back to Lutetia. I've already set the ship to head for Londinium. I'm sorry but you aren't welcomed on Vatican territory." Oh boy-

Abel was forced to move in order to avoid the methuselah all aiming to take his life. They all tried slicing at him with their daggers and swords. Abel growled in defiance as he dodged the knives being thrown at him then punched the methuselah closest to him.

Suddenly he felt a sharp tug on his cape causing him to loose his balance. Abel unclasped his cape, but the female methuselah took the opening and kicked his temple, then followed up with a swift punch to the side, sending his skidding across the deck.

The female methuselah walked over to Abel in triumph. "You're pretty tough for a terran, but not tough enough." She drew her leg back, preparing for another kick.

"Terran huh? I guess I could pass as one," Abel muttered to himself. He rolled out of the way and stood up, clutching his side. He risked a glance at the captain who was searching through the pockets of his cape. "Greedy pig," Abel growled as the captain took out his wallet and emptied the contents into his hand. "To bad there's only four dinars in there," Abel snickered.

"You say he's callous when you're here trying to arrest him? I bet who ever hired you must be paying you really well, if you actually snuck onto this ship."

"You loose that bet. The pope doesn't pay me at all," Abel shrugged. "If you ask me money isn't worth carrying around. The currency constantly changes and it attracts thugs." He dodged a few more blows by the methuselah. Being careful not to rip their clothing because of the sun.

"If you give up right now, we'll let you live," the female said. She crouched down as she prepared to spring forward. When Abel didn't answer she let loose a series of attacks. The other methuselah joined in. He hardly had any room to dodge anymore! Abel's back was already pressed into the wall.

A sword was swung down and Abel side stepped then someone lunged at him with their claws extended. A dozen other attacks were all closing in on him! Abel acted on instinct. He lashed out and drew his gun, hitting the methuselah's hands with his weapon forcing them to drop theirs. Someone holding a sword jumped over his fellow people.

Abel grabbed his hand, causing him to release his sword then chucked him over his shoulder.

**_-Splash-_**

Abel jumped over the methuselah, then shot forward shooting his gun. **-Click- **He was out of ammo.

"Argghhh!" A screech of pain, drew Abel out of his frenzy.

The sun! Abel cursed for his carelessness. He had forgotten about the kid he had just thrown overboard. Abel raced to the side of the ship, only sparing half a second to locate the methuselah. He ran on the side of the ship, reached over and grabbed the hand of the methuselah. What the hell was he thinking? He was saving the enemy! To late now. Abel raced along the side of the boat until he finally got back onto the deck and hurled the injured kid into the shade.

The methuselah's clothing created a small pool of water as his burns healed. Those who weren't watching the kid were looking at Abel as if he had done the craziest thing. And he couldn't blame them. He mentally cursed himself for saving the enemy. A few centuries ago he wouldn't have even cared and now he was actually putting his life at risk by saving a total stranger! Not to mention one that had tried to kill him.

'God, I'm becoming a priest without even knowing it! And I even said 'God,' what the hell is wrong with me? Jesus, kill me now!... 'But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,' Luke 6:27… how did I even know that? Maybe I have alzheimer's,' Abel thought. He tried listing all the things he had been doing since he woke up from being in the catacombs. 'I'm becoming more like Cain everyday, it's only a matter of time before I stop acting like a klutz and idiot, and actually become one!' "Ugh- I'm so stupid!" he cursed out loud. "Damn it!" Abel stomped over to the captain.

He ripped his coat away from the Captain's grip and snatched his wallet and dinars, putting them back where they belonged. Once he put the hood over his face he stormed into the Captains Cabin and stuffed all the stolen goods into a bag he had found in the corner of the room. When he was done, the methuselah were still shocked about was he had done, and just stared at him.

"You're here by under arrest for transporting illegal immigrants who also happen to be methuselah," Abel bit out at the man a second before he swung him over his shoulder. He turned back to the methuselah. "In about an hour you should start seeing Londinium. It's not to far from here. Next time you decide to visit Lutetia I won't be so lenient."

"Pft- you should have just let me die. I would have rather died then return to that island," the methuselah Abel saved, growled. He was now fully clothed and advanced on Abel with his sword drawn. Abel knew he wouldn't attack him, but his body language was very threatening. "We may have been born there, but we never considered it our home. Some of the terran's there don't even know we exist. We're slowly fading from their memory. The only thing we're good for is making the terran's technology."

"Take it up with your queen, not me. I'm not even from the same country as you!" even though I was born there… I wasn't even registered as a citizen, Abel said, but kept the last part to himself.

"She doesn't give a damn about us!"

"Enough, Alerio!" the female methuselah ordered. She grabbed the blade of the sword he held and yanked it away. "He saved your life. Just be thankful. We'll figure something else out." She locked eyes with the other methuselah on the ship. "Just let this man go for now." She turned back to Abel, "thank you for saving my brother." She gave him a small bow.

"Try the New Human Empire. They'll probably except you. If not then just ask for someone named Seth." Abel didn't give her a chance to question him and jumped off the boat.

The Captain screamed as he felt the ground disappear from under him. His yelp caught in his throat when the ocean never met him.

Abel kicked off the side of the ship, right before he would have touched the water and landed on the nearest debris. He somehow managed to kick it away from the boat, so the methuselah couldn't follow. He did this with all the logs he found on his way back to shore.

Abel easily jumped over the last twenty feet of water and landed on dry land. Glad, he wasn't surrounded by water anymore. Taking a deep breath, Abel resumed his trek to the heart of the city where they had set up a small though the sun was out, there was only a few people out of their homes, and even then, they seemed very cautious of their surroundings.

Entering the small church, Abel took notice in the number of men, woman and children laying on the pews and the wooden floor. A few coughs echoed throughout the building as Abel maneuvered his way around people. In spite of the fact everyone was in a relaxed position, their eyes all followed Abel as he made his way toward the casket that held the bishop.

"What are you doing here?" someone barked. Abel recognized the voice as the boy he had met the day before who was loaded with bombs. "You and your friend aren't welcomed here."

Abel ignored him as he tied the Captain's feet and hands together. The man had apparently fainted on their way to the church.

"Do you know when the body of Bishop Lando will be taken?" Abel asked, still not turning to look at the boy. He gently laid the Captain next to the coffin and tied one end or the rope to a pillar.

"The inquisition was supposed to stop by a few days ago to pick him up," Niel answered for the boy. "If you don't mind me asking: where did you go last night? You suddenly disappeared," he explained, "and who's that?" Niel pointed the Captain who was now mumbling in his sleep.

"After the first methuselah attacked us, I saw something so I went to investigate. Apparently you had a ship close to your shores. That man was the captain of the ship and also the reason why, the methuselah came here. I don't know the full story, but from what I can tell: he made the methuselah pay him in gold, for the use of his ship." Abel showed Niel the sack of stolen goods and handed it to the bishop.

"You must be blessed by God. Thank you so much. I can never hope to repay you," Niel said with a bow. He passed the bag to a woman next to him. She then began sorting through the items and passing them back to their rightful owners.

"You don't need to. In fact I'm not done with my job yet, they weren't the methuselah who's been attacking the villagers. I believe there's another group. They must have came with those from the ship, but then broke off from the other pirates."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait. School just started last week and I'm still in summer time. Meaning I go to sleep at 2am in the morning then wake up at 4am because I need to catch the bus...


	8. Chapter 8

(Three days later)

Abel ducked behind the bishop. His eyes trailed after Levon, the kid with the bombs. Levon kept on insisting that Abel was working with the vampires and that they shouldn't trust him. When ever Abel was caught in the church, Levon would started punching him over the head and order him to leave the church, with the excuse that Abel should be guarding them, or be collecting fire wood. He also had a bad habit of being attracted to all the girls who passed by him…

"Abel, what are you doing?" Niel asked, his back faced toward Abel as he craned his neck back, but didn't look at him. His eyes were locked on the note they had received a couple days ago, stating that members from the vatican would be picking up the body of the formal bishop, the Captain, and the Methuselah today. Okay, not the methuselah, since he escaped on the same day they had gotten the letter. "Levon isn't as bad as you think. He's just had a rough childhood, and doesn't trust people easily. You should try talking to him." Abel's stomach grumbled and Niel laughed. "But it might be best if got something to eat first. I haven't seen you eat once, since you got here."

"No, I'm fine. I'll eat once I get back to Rome," Abel said. Just then two men walked into the church. They were both wearing robes for the inquisition. Bishop Niel walked up to them, making Abel visible to Levon who glared at him. Abel smiled at the kid and quickly followed Niel, before Levon could order him to do something.

One of the inquisition members took off his mask and the other followed after him. They both exchanged quick words with the bishop then turned to Abel. "Pope Gregorio has given us your train tickets to return with us," they informed him. "The train leaves tomorrow morning."

"But I've already told the pope, I wasn't done with the mission. I may have solved the-"

"The pope want's you to return as soon as possible," the man interrupted.

"Why? If I don't finish what I came here to do, more people could get injured, or worse," Abel frowned. He noticed the long pause and the uncertain look that passed between the two men. "Tell me, otherwise I'm staying." He crossed his arms.

The older of the two men, sighed. "The day after you left Lady Caterina went missing," he whispered. Abel blinked at the two men, was this a joke? What about Havel and William? They were supposed to be with her twenty four, seven. "After she went to sleep for the night, brother Havel took guard outside her room, like he usually does…"

So that's what happened. Someone either got to her while she was asleep or she ran away. Both seemed like very unlikely choices. For one, the vatican was well guarded and for another, he just couldn't see Caterina running away and stay missing for that long… Unless- No that couldn't be it.

"So that's why you two didn't come earlier?" the bishop asked, and the inquisition nodded. A sad expression crossed Niel's face as he made the sign of a cross.

"I'll get there by myself. I don't need to take the train, it takes to long as it is." The two men looked ready to protest. "I'm going to tie up a few loose ends then head back to the vatican. Don't worry, I'll be back before you two will be." Abel looked at the two men in the eye, it was the best way to prove to them he wasn't kidding.

They nodded reluctantly but the bishop didn't look like he agreed with his idea. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Isn't the train the fasted way of transportation? If you plan on taking a car, or something it won't be as fast as a train. The terrain is to rough and gas is very expensive… Plus it's too dangerous, what if a vampire attacks you?"

"I don't plan on taking a car, they're bad for the environment," Abel said, but didn't tell them his real reason for not taking a car. And at the same time he avoided the main topic. "I'll start looking for Caterina as soon as… I get back to Rome. I may or might not check up with the pope before I start my search." Abel bowed one last time to Niel before leaving.

XXX

(A little earlier)

Caterina smirked at her accomplishment. It wasn't much, in fact she hadn't really done anything… except run away. It was exhilarating to know people were after her. Just knowing her father's men would be looking for her, made her more alert to everything around her.

She ducked behind a crate as two men passed by the entrance to her temporary camp. She peaked around it as they stopped walking, and started talking to each other. Both were members of her Father's inquisition. Caterina zipped up the front of her dark blue jacket and tugged the hood up, stuffing her hair into it. Keeping her gaze down cast she crept closer to the two men. She could feel their gaze flicker to her for a second before they started chatting again, as they walked away. Dang it, she hadn't been able to hear anything!

It had been two days since she arrived it Lutetia and she still hadn't gotten any information about the vampire group, or the formal bishops death. The only thing she had found was that Abel had arrived here a few days before her and had already encountered a vampire, but she didn't get much on that either. She was beginning to second guess herself.

No! She couldn't give up yet, she only just started! Besides Abel was older then her, so of course he would be more experienced in these things. She would find out about the group that threatened to declare war against the vatican, and prove to Abel that she didn't need a subordinate to do her work for her.

Turning around, she crouched down and folded her long pants until they were just above her knee. As she got up, she pushed up the sleeves of her jacket. Looking back toward the area the men had just gone, Caterina climbed up onto the first crate before making her way onto two others that were all stacked against the wall of a building. Doing one last head check, she swung the card board -that was nailed to the wall- away, revealing a large hole in the wall and climbed into it, entering her little layer.

When she had first found it, it was filled with boxes, books, cabinets, dolls, and just about any other item you could name. The wooden floor had splinters in it, and cracked glass had been by the entrance. Rats, spiders, and even a cat had taken residence in her hideout. She had managed to get rid of the rats, and most of the spiders but for some reason the cat always came back.

'Note to self, never feed wild animals.'

Once she got herself settled in, she swung the card board back to it's original position and looked at her hideout. It was no longer filled with cobwebs or spiders, and was a lot less dusty. The boxes were all pushed the side, and the empty ones had been ripped to cover the splintered wood, as a makeshift mat. The glass that had been by the entrance had been dumbed outside of her hideout.

Smiling to herself, Caterina took out what little food she had left. Before leaving the vatican she had packed her bag with fruits, bread, and other non-perishable items. Despite her attempts to ration she found it wasn't as easy at she had thought. She also hadn't taken the cat into count. Or should she be saying cats, now that the cat had given birth the other day…

Stuffing her hair back under her hood, Caterina went back out. She had only come to her hideout to lighten her backpack and grab her pocket knife.

Deciding to check the beach next, Caterina began walking in the general direction.

She took in every little detail of her surroundings. During her whole stay at Lutetia, she had only seen a total of five people, two of them being the members of the inquisition she had just seen awhile ago. Despite this fact, she still made sure to hide her face and the fact she was a girl, after all it was better to be safe then sorry.

She wondered if Abel would have been able to tell if she was Caterina by looking at her now. Her breast's still hadn't matured yet, so it was relatively easy to pass as a boy. Although her hair was shoulder length, she hadn't brushed it in awhile, giving it a messy street rat, type of look. Her face was smudged with dirt, and she had gotten her clothes from a clothes hanger she had seen upon coming into this town. She still couldn't believe she actually stole from somebody.

She'd show him! Her mind wandered back to what Abel had said before he left. It still bothered her considerably. One of these days he would regret what he said, and would be begging for her mercy! And with that goal in mind, there was just no way she was going to screw up so soon.

Of course she wouldn't stand a chance against a vampire, but that wasn't her goal. Her goal was to just find out where they could be hiding out, then ominously leak the information to Abel. If he didn't know it was her telling him the information, then it would be that much more awarding when he found out. Caterina smirked at the thought.

Caterina turned up a street and continued her walk. Every noise, rustle, creak, or snap made her look in the direction. Every so often she would stop to pause, even if she passed by an occupied house. She didn't know how, but somehow she could tell when a building was occupied or not. She would later find out that she had a keen eye for detail, and could pick up even the littlest things to figure things out.

Caterina halted to a stop when she heard footsteps coming her way. Taking in her surroundings she quickly found the best hiding spot. Wow! She had seen more people today, then she had in the past two days put together!

"The kid's been missing from the vat' for nearly six days now. We've been here for three days and we still haven't found her," the first person spat.

"Cool it, we'll find her eventually. Besides according to our sources she's here. They caught her taking the last train, heading for Lutetia. Now unless she jumped off, she's here. Even though terran's are stupid, I don't think they're that dumb," the second person calmly replied.

"Well, so far we haven't seen any sign of her. I'd say she's one of them idiots, and jumped off," person one growled. Caterina rolled her eyes, only someone with a death wish would jump off a moving train!

"Seeing as she ran away from her only means of protection I'd say she is an idiot," person two sighed. "She even came to Lutetia!" he laughed madly. "Our brother's and sister here, are also on the look out for her. She couldn't have picked a worse place to visit then here."

Chuckling, the first person spoke up again, "you think the boss'll mind if we took a sip of her blood once we find her?"

Caterina almost gasped at that comment, but it was the next one that actually made her surprised.

"The boss will probably rip out your intestines and turn you inside out if you ever did that. Truthfully I have no clue what his interest in this brat is. Besides the fact she's somehow related to the pope-" Caterina gasped. "Did you hear that?"

Caterina cut her gasp short. They had been talking about her! They were after her! It had almost been two months since the attack to her home in Milan, and they were still after her!

"No… I don't hear anything…"

"I thought I heard someone gasp," the first vampire stated.

"Must have been a cat," the second vampire shrugged.

"Cat's don't gasp," the first person growled in irritation. He began walking toward Caterina's hiding spot. Caterina had to grip her hands in fists to keep from shaking.

"Where did it go?" a new voice sounded from the opposite direction of the vampires. "Oh, you there!" he addressed the vampires, he sounded like Abel. Of course it just had to been him to save her! Caterina mentally cursed herself. Hopefully he hadn't noticed her… after all she was blocked from view on all four sides. It wasn't like he was a blood hound. "Have you seen a small golden retriever puppy? She's never been out before, and I'm afraid she ran off…"

"Tch, it was just some terran, come on, lets go," the second person growled. Caterina heard his retreating footsteps.

She waited awhile, hoping she would soon be hearing Abel also leaving but he didn't. Eventually she peaked out of her hiding spot to see Abel looking at her with a blank expression.

"Found it," Abel muttered under his breath. Louder he said, "care to explain what you're doing here, my Lady?"

"Yes," Caterina said stubbornly as she moved completely away from her hiding spot.

"You've worried your father greatly, in fact he has ordered me to return to the vatican to help in their search for you. I would have appreciated it if you had just stayed put, out of harms way. I don't know what you could have gained by coming here, but you're simply putting yourself in danger, and causing people to worry."

Caterina ground her teeth. How dare he speak to her like that! She wasn't just some kid, he could scold. But what irritated her the most was that he was right.

Abel sighed, "well now that I found you, you're coming with me. You are to return home with the two brothers."

"That's it? You're not even going to ask what I was doing here? Or why?" Caterina had now forgotten all about the vampires she had just seen. "You know a normal adult would at least scold me for running off."

"If you want to tell me then do so, but I won't ask. Whatever you do is your own business, not mine. As for the scolding, I'll leave that up to the pope. Come now, my Lady. The sooner we get to the church, the sooner I can resume my mission."

"And what was your mission, exactly? I thought you were going to be apart of the army, my father plans on sending, but then I find out that you're the only one he sent!" Caterina yelled.

"My mission was to simply come here and find the Methuselah group," Abel sighed. Caterina glared at Abel, knowing he wasn't telling her the whole truth. Abel growled suddenly and had somehow closed the distance between them.

"What?"

"Shh, we're being watched," Abel hissed, as he grabbed her hand and tugged her after him.

Caterina quietly followed him, until she realized they were going in the opposite direction of the church. "Where are we going? The church is that way," she tried pointing. Some premonition made her heart beat faster. At the last second she jumped over a ditch as they passed the last building, entering the forest.

"Methuselah have us surrounded, we can't turn in that direction without encountering one."

"They're probably leading us into a trap!" Caterina shouted. She couldn't believe Abel hadn't noticed this, it seemed obvious to her.

"I realize that, but it's our best option at the moment. Besides even if we could return to the church, I don't think the bishop or the others will appreciate us bringing trouble."

"Oh," Caterina said dully.

She followed Abel's long strides, each of his steps took two of her own. She stopped when he did, ran when he sprinted, and jogged when he walked.

They came to a stop by the start of the woods. The tree's were thinned out so it didn't provide much cover, unless they went further into it where everything seemed more dense with ferns, shrubs and kelp trees.

Something moved out of the corner of her eye, and her head shot in the direction, but when she looked nothing was there. Abel also noticed and had stiffened.

"I think they're after me," Caterina whispered. She didn't know whether she should say more or not, but since Abel had done nothing to silence her she continued. "Those two men you talked to where talking about finding me…"

Abel grabbed her wrist again and went deeper into the forest. She was trying her best to remain quiet, and light on her feet but every step she took seemed to be deafeningly loud. She looked at Abel's and noticed that his just seemed to glide over the leaves and twigs, without making any noise.

"Excuse me, my lady," Abel mumbled. He shifted his hand to her jacket and swung her over his shoulder then entered into a sprint, as he ran over a steep hill. The rocks were loose and the dirt and leaves were wet, making it very slippery. Abel didn't even look back, as he released her and began twitching his ears at every little sound.

Caterina tried listening for any signs of life, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't find any. Besides those two vampires she had seen in the ally, she hadn't seen anyone else besides Abel. And even though Abel could run through a forest without making sound, she was certain that even a methuselah would make some sort of noise.

"Stay here," Abel commanded. She had been so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed him leading her to a large tree right by a brook.

Abel didn't give Caterina a chance to respond before placing something into her hands and taking off into the tree's. Caterina looked down at the gun and extra clips she was holding. She checked the barrel before placing the clips into her pockets. She thanked God, that her step father had taught her the basics of how to shoot a gun.

She was sweating, but it as cool on her forehead as it ran between her shoulder blades. Backing into the tree, Caterina crouched down and- The rustling of leaves and wind whipping past an object sounded.

"How did you-" **_-Thump- _**

"What happened?! Someone go help him! Aghhh!"

"Ambush-"

Someone's voice echoed through the forest. Caterina stiffened. She could hear the start of a battle but she couldn't see a thing! Suddenly a body fell to the ground only a few yards away. Caterina shot, clenching her eyes shut.

When she opened them again someone was laying right in front of her with a dagger gripped in his hand. He called out in pain, as he gripped his knee she had shot. Talk about lucky.

Caterina leveled Abel's gun toward the right of her, someone was approaching her. The steps were uneven telling her the person was already injured. Then it stopped and a soft thud, met her ears.

"Abel?" Caterina asked, shakily.

A hand grasped her from the opposite side and forced her to her feet. She let out a gasp, but the person holding her put a hand over her mouth.

"Shut it!" her captor growled to her. "If you want her to live, I suggest you come into the open," he ordered, as he snagged her gun away.

"Just let her go, and we'll be on our way. Or was I mistaken when I thought your men was leading us here?" Abel said, calmly. He slowly walked out from behind a tree.

"I don't think so. You just killed my comrades. I'm not letting you go that easily, enhanced terran scum!"

A spark lit from the barrel of the gun, as he pulled the trigger. Caterina's eyes' widened as the bullet hit Abel square in the chest. He didn't even take a step back as he kept his eyes locked on her captor.

"What are you doing here?" Abel asked, keeping his gaze leveled. He had dropped his hands to his side, but didn't make a move to approach them.

Caterina tried wiggling away from her captor but she couldn't. He had a strong hold on her. If she struggled any more, she would most likely end up with a bruise if she didn't already have one.

"Pointing a gun at your head," the man replied smugly.

Abel didn't take to well to that answer because he let out a harsh growl, and narrowed his eyes. "Don't get smart with me."

"And what are you going to do about it? You might be wearing some sort of bullet proof jacket under that coat, but you don't have any of that protection on your head." He cocked the gun. As he spoke, more people came into the opening. Their eyes flashing in anger as they glared at Abel.

Caterina watched in horror as another blast erupted from the gun. She threw all her weight onto the man, hoping to make his aim off. As she fell to the ground, she heard another battle starting before her. It only lasted a few seconds before she felt Abel's cool hands pulling her off the ground. He kicked her captor in the head, knocking him out. Caterina looked up at Abel, before looking behind him. All the vampires she had seen earlier were on the ground, moaning in pain. When she looked at the other vampires from earlier she noticed none of them were dead, just injured.

"We need to go before their back up comes," Abel said. He released her hand for a second as he reached for his gun, then took her hand again.

They began running again. Abel was setting a faster pace then he was before. Caterina was barely able to keep up. Half the time she felt her feet leave the ground, at seconds at a time, as they skimmed over the damp forest ground. Abel was practically dragging her through the forest! Then Abel suddenly skidded to a stop, and yanked Caterina's arm to stop her momentum. She let out a small hiss as her shoulder popped.

Someone had intercepted their route.

"Why are there so many methuselah here?" Abel asked. Though Caterina had a feeling his question wasn't meant for her to hear, so she didn't say anything. "Are you guys apart of the other group? The one that's killing all the villagers?"

'Guys?' But Caterina only saw one person… She looked into the tree's when she saw something shift over head. Each branch had a vampire standing or sitting on it. A few had as much as five vampires standing on them!

Some of them jumped down, only to reveal even more! Her eye's wondered to the area they had been early. If it were possible her eyes widened even more. There wasn't a single tree or branch in sight that didn't have a vampire on it!

The vampires that had jumped down where now forming a circle around them.

"Yes, we are the group that has been killing you terrans. Call it revenge. You have hunted us, and tried to exterminate us. Now lets see how you like it when we do the same to you!"

Abel pushed Caterina away from a blow that was aimed at her. He jumped into the air as he fired several shots at the incoming vampires. As he landed, he swept his foot across the ground in an arc shape, tripping some of the vampires.

"You're killing innocent people, for that reason?" Abel sounded enraged. His blue eyes were turning into a reddish color. "You shouldn't blame them for what their ancestors did! All you're doing is repeating their mistakes! They are sorry for what they have done!"

"But are you really? The people of Londinium don't remember any of that! They don't even appreciate all that we have done for them! They take us for granted! By moving here, we are insuring Lutetia never becomes like Londinium by taking control."

"You were with those from the ship, weren't you?" Abel asked.

"Yes, we were. But they didn't see things the same way we did. We broke off from each other once we got here."


	9. Chapter 9

Abel was trying his best to protect Caterina. Several blows came at him at once and he swiftly dodged them all. Except one. The one that was aimed at Caterina.

Caterina grit her teeth. She wanted to yell at him, to order him to stop protecting her, but she knew he wouldn't listen. She had already told him so three times. Abel appeared in front of her again as he blocked another attack, then just as quickly he disappeared with a flurry of leaves and attacked. Caterina looked at the ground for what seemed like the hundredth time. Each time Abel came to protect her more blood was added to the patch of grass in front of her.

He was only getting hurt because of her! If she weren't here, he wouldn't be hurt at all! The realization of these facts hit Caterina like a tidal wave. He was loosing so much blood! Any normal person would have fainted from blood loss by now.

There were just to many of them. Not even a vampire's vampire could hope to take so many at once. Caterina felt like crying out in vein. He hadn't even taken care of half of them yet and more just kept coming.

Still Abel refused to kill any of them. They all had full intentions of killing him and her, and yet Abel was always careful with them. He never dealt anyone of them killing blows. Some of them had already healed and had rejoined the fight. None of them noticed none of their comrades were dead. They were to enraged to even think to check on another fellow vampire.

The vampires had long since shed their heavy clothing. The sun had set, leaving only the two moons to light up the dark forest. The vampires moved with deadly accuracy. They all moved much faster then they had been early. No longer having to restrict their movements for fear of the sun.

Why wouldn't Abel activate the crusnik? Surely if he did then the fight would end that much sooner… of course she still didn't expect him to win with such unfair odds, but-

Abel appeared before her again. This time he didn't charge back into the fray. The vampires also seemed to notice this and were now circling the two of them. Caterina took this time to study his appearance. His clothing were nothing more then rags hanging from his lanky- muscular frame. Each rip and hole had dark red rings around them. As he stood in front of her, more blood dripped to the ground. It didn't even look like it was dripping anymore. His wounds were full out pouring blood onto the ground! Instead of small red splotches there was now a pool of blood.

"Abel-" Caterina eyes widened. She had lifted her hand to touch him, and ask if he were alright but a small blue spark made her stop. He was finally activating the crusnik. His hair was beginning to float above his head.

"Nano- machine Crusnik 02." The transformation was already complete, save for the Scythe but he continued, "release of restrictions forty percent, activate." His wrist split, and for a second Caterina felt dread at thinking that he might loose even more blood. Instead it formed his wicked red scythe.

The vampires all gasped and took an involuntary step back. One of them had even fallen from a tree, he was that surprised.

"What are you?" a few vampires asked. They were all shaking, but still pretended to be unfazed. Caterina couldn't blame them. If Abel could take care of hundreds of them all at once, then it would only make sense if he could take on more of them in his new form.

"Something that shouldn't exist," Abel murmured under his breath. It was so soft Caterina wasn't even sure if she had heard him or not.

Apparently the vampires hadn't heard him and his silence upset them. They are snarled at charged at the same time. Half of them held daggers and swords while the others bared their claws and their bones had shifted and sharpened until they were just as strong as a sword or dagger. They protruded from their arms and fingers, simply another added limb.

Abel glanced back at Caterina and she saw a flash of red in his eyes before he looked back. She might not have been scared of her friend but it was obvious that all the vampires were. They all flinched when his eyes met theirs.

Abel flew into action. He swung his scythe forward then swung it back. He was moving so fast, Caterina could barely keep up! Abel jumped into the air and swung his scythe over his head as he did a twist in the air. He landed in the middle of the vampires and for a minute Caterina couldn't see him.

Then all the vampires dropped to the ground. Abel was no where in sight, he had already moved on. Each attack was made with great precision. He slashed at those near him, then kicked, punched, and jumped. He followed this pattern for awhile before switching it up. It was almost as if he had entered a graceful yet deadly dance. He predicted all the vampires moves and took them down with ease. Even the tail of his scythe seemed as though it were in on the act. It snaked across the ground and stabbed those near it. A few times it looked as though it had stretched by a couple feet. It looked alive.

"Leave this place," Abel snarled. The decrease in vampires were evident. The remainder of the vampires were now on the forest ground. A few of the injured had retreated into the trees or had simply retreated out of the forest.

"We're methuselah. You think we'll listen to one enhance human?" one of them yelled. Caterina recognized him as one of the vampires that Abel had to deal with repeatedly. His wound's looked almost as bad as Abel, but they still weren't life threatening.

"Pathetic, simple minded, idiots," Abel snarled. He ran through the nearest methuselah then slashed at those farther from him. A few of the vampires tried attacking him from the back but the tail of the scythe easily took care of them.

This phase of the fight only lasted a few moments. None of the vampires dared to get up and attack again. Baring his fangs Abel said, "leave Lutetia and return to Londinium. Or else..." His blood red gaze swept over the injured as he made his way to Caterina. They slowly turned back into their natural blue as he neared. His hair dropping over his shoulders. "You're not injured are you, my lady," Abel said in a much nicer voice then the one he had used toward the vampires.

She gapped at him.

"Well I don't… see any injuries," Abel said as he looked her over. "Well let's get going then." He began walking in the general direction of the church.

"Yo-you're injured, and your asking me if I'm hurt? Abel, you created a pool of blood back there," Caterina said.

"Oh that's nice," Abel commented. He glanced back at Caterina to see her trudging along after him. She looked as if she were falling asleep as she walked. "So you have two choices," Abel began. You can either catch the train with the brothers, or you can return to Rome with me."

The minute it came out of his mouth, he regretted it. "Sure," Caterina responded. "I'll come with you."

She must have been really tired to have accepted his offer. Sighing Abel went on his knee, his back still facing Caterina. "I'll carry you, so you can sleep."

Caterina nodded, tiredly as she climbed on. The second her arms wrapped around his neck she asleep.

Abel stood up slowly and untangled the strap of her bag from her hands. He gripped it with his own bag and entered haste.

XXX

Abel set Caterina down as he neared the Catacombs. He had made it back in record time. Sometime in the night he had activated the crusnik and flew over most trip back to Rome. It was nearing ten in the morning, so Abel guessed it was a good time to take a break… after all he did promise himself to take a look at the catacombs.

He placed his hand on an unseen panel and a rock wall slide open. His love's resting place nearly ten paces away from him. Abel didn't let excitement get to him at seeing her again, he still needed to care for Caterina.

Picking up the child again, Abel walked over to the corner of the large room and placed her on a dusty cot. In his defense it was better then letting Caterina sleep on the cold floor. Once satisfied he made his way onto the dais.

Memories of his dream bombarded his mind. He had called it a dream but William had clearly stated the light distorting machine only showed memories of past events.

Everything he saw couldn't be true, it just couldn't. For one, Seth was still alive. He just knew it! And so was Cain… And he most definitely couldn't activate the crusnik to 100% If he could then he would be just as crazy as Cain, and he was not crazy.

Abel looked into his loves face. Just like always he put a hand on the glass, as if expecting his hand to seep right through it and touch her delicate, smooth skin. Abel wiped away the dust. He forced his eyes away from her face and looked at the compartment where he kept her nano-machines. Taking a breath he pressed a button and a dark cylinder was pushed out of it's compartment. Cool smoke trailed from the sides. Abel picked it up and looked at the meter.

Her nano machines were still there. He sighed in relief. He didn't know what he would have done if he really was activated at a hundred percent.

"Abel?" Caterina asked sleepily.

He snorted. He usually had more time to spend at the Catacombs. He gave Lilith an apologetic smile and turned to Caterina.

"You're up," Abel said with a smile. "Come on then, we should get going. Your father is worried as it is. The sooner you get back the better."

"Abel, isn't this where the black lady saint is buried?" Caterina gasped.

"It is," Abel said carefully. "Which is why we really should be leaving."

His words of warning fell on deaf ears as Caterina stepped onto the dais and peered into the coffin. She gasped when she saw the beautiful features of the woman that lay behind the coffin. "But how? Is she really d-d…"

"Yes, she really is," Abel said with great effort. Nearly nine centuries had passed and he still choked up when he admitted Lilith was really… gone…

"But how did we get in here? I thought this side of the catacombs were sealed."

Abel didn't answer. It was sealed. Only he or the first pope could open this chamber. Since Pope Gregory had already passed away, Abel was the only one who could open it.

"She's beautiful," Caterina commented and Abel nodded in response.

A hiss echoed through the room and Abel snapped his head up. Caterina had taken out the nano machines.

"Don't touch that," Abel ordered. He snatched the cylinder away from Caterina and put it back. Pressing the button to seal it.

"What was that?"

"Ask me when you get older," Abel grunted. He grambed Caterina's wrist and led her out of the Catacombs. He secretly closed the passage as they left.

"How did we get here so fast anyway?" Caterina asked. She gave Abel a look as if saying that she was only changing the topic because she noticed how jumpy he was about the previous one.

"Hmm, I don't know… I guess it helps when you're a crusnik," Abel teased. Happy about the change in topic. Somehow he knew Caterina had accepted him for what he was, so it wasn't uncomfortable mentioning it to her. Well, maybe a little…

"So you carried me then?"

Abel nodded.

"I can't believe I slept through that," Caterina grunted.

"Trust me, if you had been awake it would have been chaos for me," Abel sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Caterina asked, playing along.

"Just as it sounds. It would have been pure chaos. We wouldn't have gotten as far as we did if you had been up."

"What ever," Caterina rolled her eyes. Then looked up at Abel. "So what are you going to do about your clothes?"

Abel looked down to see his bloodied clothing with large rips in them, showing a little skin. He smirked and dug into his bag, drawing out a cape. "Looks like I'm covered, what about you?" Abel asked as he swung the cape over his shoulders. "You're still wearing boys clothes."

Caterina blushed. "Unlike you I actually have another pair of clothes," Caterina stated.

"We'll make a stop near the vatican so you can get changed," Abel said. He didn't sound the least bit surprised that Caterina had brought another pair of clothes.

What else could you expect when dealing with girls?

"Thanks, I wouldn't want to explain to my father about why I'm wearing these, along with where I've been for the past week." She shook her head. She really regretted following Abel now… Sighing she said, "I'm sorry… if I hadn't left the vatican we wouldn't have had to have fought those vampires, and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"I'm the one who should be saying sorry," Abel said, no longer joking. "If I hadn't said what I did before I left then you wouldn't have gotten yourself into danger. So it's ultimately my fault." He stopped, turned and bowed all in one graceful movement. "I hope you'll except my apology my lady."

Caterina gapped and was about to reject, but thought better of it. "Sure but on one condition." Abel peaked at her from under his bangs. "Stop calling me 'my lady,' all the time, Or Lady Caterina, just call me Caterina. And stop bowing."

Abel straightened and blinked at her, a goofy grin spread across his face. "No promise when we're in public, but when alone I'll call you by your first name."

"One minute you're serious and the next you're a goof," Caterina commented. She continued walked and Abel followed. They continued with the small chit chat until Caterina finally changed her clothes and they arrived at the vatican.

The men at the gate immediately allowed them entry and told Caterina and Abel to report to the Pope as soon as possible. They both said their thanks and headed to his office.

"What are you going to tell him anyway?" Abel questioned, once they were through the gates. He half expected her to lie, but whatever it was she decided to tell the pope, he would back her up.

"How does visiting Milan sound? I'l tell him I had a sudden urge to visit my old home and that you found me on your way back."

"That's convincible," Abel said. "Just don't drag me into anything if he catches your lie."

They both silenced as they neared the office. Abel knocked and received permission to enter.

* * *

**A/N:** I can finally stop typing 'lady' every time I want Abel to address Caterina! Finally!

So what did you guys think? Please review.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Abel exited the popes office. Luckily for him the Pope didn't catch onto Caterina's little lie. Caterina soon followed after him. She had a smirk plastered on her face as if trying to tell him he didn't have anything to worry about to begin with.

"I can't believe he bought that," Abel said after they were well out of hearing distance.

"I know," Caterina smirked. "I was sure he would have caught on. Especially after you raised an eyebrow at me! Really Abel, you need to work on your acting."

"I suppose," Abel shrugged. "William's coming. I suggest we stop talking about this."

Sure enough, a minute later they bumped into William. He had just come back from the library. A book bag was swung on his shoulder, stuffed to the max. In his arms he held at least ten large textbooks, and they were stacked so he couldn't even see what was in front of him.

"Professor, did you need help with that?" Caterina offered, peering over the books.

"Cat-Caterina!" William shouted. He jumped back, and his eyes widened. He had thrown the books high in the air as if they didn't weigh a thing.

"Sorry," Caterina said, just as Abel caught a book that would have hit her head. The rest thudded on the floor like an off beat drum.

"But how- Abel!" William's eyes had finally landed on Abel. He had forgotten all about Caterina being there.

"Good morning," Abel curtsied.

"Abel, you must let me take an example of your blood!" William almost yelled. "It's of high importance! When you had fainted the other day I took a blood sample and I found the most peculiar thing!"

Abel looked down at Caterina who looked up at him in return. Both having no idea what the professor was rambling about. They then turned back to him with their eye brows raised as he picked up his books in one hand. The other hand had somehow managed to wrap around Abel's wrist and began dragging him toward his room. Caterina quietly followed behind them.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Abel began. "Why did you take a sample of my blood anyway?"

"That isn't of importance." William had arrived in front of his room and kicked the door open. "Have a seat," he motioned to a chair by a table. He threw the books haphazardly to the ground by his desk.

"Ah, William, I would rather not. You see… those in my family have this strange disease. Just exposing you to my blood could cause you to get it. So I would rather not," Abel said.

"But that's just it! I found microorganisms that strangely resembles the bacillus in vampires. I studied it and found if I added an exact electrical current that I could cause it to latch onto your blood cells and…" the professor continued rambling on and on about his new findings. Once in awhile he would mention how such a thing could affect Abel's health and perhaps sanity if they didn't take care of it quick enough.

"Listen there really isn't anything wrong with me," Abel tried again to interrupt him. Caterina was doing nothing to help the silver head, she seemed more interested in William's thought process on Abel's condition.

"Nonsense! If you just found a way to control these new nano-machines you could possibly be stronger then even a vampire," William said. He started waving his arms around, trying to get Abel see things his way. Abel flinched as the man continued waving his arms, the sudden movements were making him uncomfortable.

"Professor, I think what Abel means to say, is that he already knew about the nano-machines. He calls himself a crusnik," Caterina interrupted William's flailing.

Abel scowled at Caterina, but it was more out of confusion then anything else. He had always feared people knowing about him. He had already told Caterina without giving it so much as a second thought. And Caterina had just told William and he still wasn't bothered by this. Nothing had changed since nine hundred years ago. The church still feared the methuselah and the empire still hated the church. So why was it that he wasn't scared that two humans now knew about him? He had somehow known Caterina wouldn't react badly to his vampirism, and William seemed to be taking it well enough...

The professor had his mouth gapped open. His pipe had fallen to the ground, his arms still up in the air as if he were frozen mid action.

"William, are you okay?" Abel asked, uncertain of himself. He was prepared to leave the room and never talk to William again, if need be.

"Just shocked. That's a very strange condition you have there young man," William said as he dropped his arms to the side. Abel almost laughed at being called 'young' but managed to restrain himself.

"So I've heard," Abel replied.

"Yes, well you two have better get ready for classes tomorrow. I picked up your homework, and I'm sorry to say but your teachers aren't the forgiving type." William picked up his pipe and seemed to think for a minute. "Abel, could I still get a sample of your blood? There was something else I found, but I wasn't able to take note of it…"

"Unlike Methuselah blood, mine could actually kill you if you got any into your system," Abel warned.

"Not to worry. I'm a scientist, of course I know how to work with dangerous chemicals. In this case blood."

Abel frowned but relented. "Just be careful with it. If you spill any, let me clean it up, okay?"

"I've got it chap," Willaim nodded with confidence. Surprisingly it only made Abel even more uncomfortable with giving William some of his blood.

XXX

(Next day)

"Bishop Lando's funeral will be in a month's time. During the wait people will be visiting the church to pay their respects. I don't care how you organize yourself however I want someone to keep an eye on his body at all times. Under no circumstances is a heretic allowed to enter the church and defile his name," the Pope said to the members of his inquisition plus Abel. "The only one's who are exempted from watching over his body is Abel Nightroad, and brother Havel."

Abel stood, it didn't seem the pope had anything worth him listening to. He had more important things to think about right now. Like figuring out how to convince this man to let him drop out of college… or ditching the next class… He still couldn't believe William had actually found him when he ditched class today. Then again he had been careless.

"Oh and Abel, in return for letting you have a break from guarding the body, I need you to bring up your grades," Pope Gregorio said to Abel's retreating form.

The inquisition members all let out a laugh at Abel's expense. Abel huffed quietly and turned around smiling. He pushed his glasses up causing light to reflect off them and effectively block his eyes. "About that, I was actually thinking. Maybe I'm just not good enough to be in the university. I'm not exactly student material."

"That's why you're in college: to learn. We'll all pray for you. I know you can do it after all your test scores were perfect," Gregorio replied.

"That was luck," Abel lied.

"Then get lucky again. And remember, I expect them to be just as good as Caterina's grades."

"I understand," Abel bowed. At least it wouldn't take him hours on end to finish his projects and essays. Sighing in defeat Abel made his way to Caterina's room. It was his turn to guard her since he ditched his classes.

He arrived in Caterina's room a moment later. Caterina was seated at the corner of her room by her desk. William was hovering over her, reading one of her reports and nodded every once in a while. At his entrance William turned to look at Abel.

"I hope you don't plan on ditching another class," William said, raising an amused eye brow. He tapped the contents of his pipe into a glass ashtray, then put his pipe into a pocket of his robes.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Abel replied. "Now I have to play the role of a perfect student." He smirked, making quotation signs in the air as he quoted the pope. "By the way la- I mean Caterina, how was your classes? I bet Kate was happy she didn't need to talk to me," Abel joked.

"Besides all the homework, it was fine. And yes Kate was just thrilled she didn't need to talk to you."Caterina looked up and fixed him with a steely gaze and fake smile. Abel shivered, where did she get that look from? "However despite her first impression of you, I managed to convince her to sit by us tomorrow."

Abel had a feeling that would happen. It would be a good idea to get on Kate's good side sooner than later. They would be working together in the near future… or at least he guessed they would be.

"That's great," Abel said with a smile. "Anyway get back to your work. We wouldn't want you to become a slacker like me," he said in teasing tones.

"Trust me, you're the last person who I would let influence me," Caterina retorted.

"I prefer it that way." Abel took out a book and flipped through the pages until he found the spot he had last stopped on. He could feel Caterina's eyes lingering on him for a while longer before she sighed and finally looked away.

This was going to be a very long month, Abel decided. Even if his perception of time was faster than that of humans and even methuselah he knew this month wouldn't go by as fast as he would want it to. Life sucked sometimes.

XXX

(A month later)

Abel tugged on the collar of his suit. He silently followed Caterina and William down the hall. Today was the funeral of the previous bishop of Lutetia. He didn't even know what funeral's in the vatican would be like. Sure he had read books about funerals before the armageddon and had even attended a few at the empire but this was going to be different. Or at least different from those in the empire. Even a four year old would know there was a large religious gap between the empire and vatican in the way they went about doing a funeral.

A chuckle from Caterina and William pulled him out of his thoughts. Abel looked up questioningly. Wondering why they had stopped walking and had started chuckling. His hand still held his collar away from his neck. He noticed that they were already at the doors of the chapel, but he still didn't understand why they were laughing.

"Okay, somebody care to tell me what's going on?" Abel asked. He could hear the choir singing a song of passing. He could only hope the Pope wouldn't notice his absence.

Caterina chuckled, "sorry. It's just you seem so lost." A grin split her face as Abel's face became one of even more confusion. "And don't tell me that you're acting. You really haven't been to a funeral before, have you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I've been to a few, but they weren't catholic funeral," Abel admitted. Of course even that had been more then a hundred years ago.

"Don't worry to much, old friend. We simply sit down and listen to the rest of the services, pay our respects to the bishop, and once that's done you can be on your way," William informed him. Abel had a feeling the professor was trying to dumb down his explanation since he usually used big words. Either that or he was tired of Abel 'pretending' to not understand what he was saying.

"I suggest you stay after the services." Abel turned to see Havel dressed in robes. "If you simply take off you might be seen as rude." His eyes twinkled a bit as if teasing Abel. "Usually people will stay after the services to talk to people. At first its about the person who just passed, but it soon turns into a social event, of sorts."

"And luckily for you it seems as though they're already half way done with the services," Caterina commented.

Abel perked his ears to hear what was happening on the other side of the door. They had indeed already started the sermon. He heard someone else walk up to the podium and begin talking about the bishop. A few minutes later someone else was going to take this person's place and also begin their own speech.

Noticing Abel was ignoring her, Caterina quietly opened the door. A few people glanced in their direction but mostly everyone ignored their entrance, the Pope included. The three of them quickly found seats in the back row, with Havel standing against the wall in the back with all the other inquisition members.

By the time they were fully situated another person had walked up to the podium and had started talking. Abel recognized him as Niel.

"It's nice to see so many of my brothers and sisters here today to mourn the death of Bishop Lando," Niel said in a serious voice. He then paused and a kind smile graced his lips. Immediately his serious tone was dropped to be replaced by the voice of the man Abel had met a month ago. "You know, I'm really nervous standing in front of you all like this," he gave a nervous chuckle. "Next time I do something like this I'm going to make sure I'm the first person to talk because all that built of tension really gave me a bad case of stage fright." This earned him a few chuckles from the people. The tension in the room had suddenly decreased and no one was frowning anymore.

Niel allowed the crowd to settle down before continuing. "I met Bishop Lando when he and I were only ten years old. Even then he had this air of…" He continued talking about all the good Lando had done. How he had inspired Niel and how he served as a role model and ect. Ect. Ect. His whole speech had been filled with only positive things and things that would cause his audience to laugh.

By the end of it all, Abel couldn't help but think the man really didn't have stage fright. He did perfectly well up there and didn't stutter over his words even once. He had managed to keep everyone entertained for an exact hour, 29 minutes and 4.76 seconds. Not a single person was sleeping or even yawning.

When his speech was finally over the body was taken away to be buried by the catacombs. Everyone was slowly getting up and stretching. Those who hadn't already paid their respects to the family did so. And those who already did went into the cafeteria to have a small snack.

Yep, this was definitely different from the methuselah way. As he followed the crowd into the cafeteria, Caterina and William were talking about the former Bishop and how they would have liked to have met him. It then moved onto Niels speech and finally (just like how Havel had said) they began talking about other things.

Abel took a seat across from his friends. He didn't bother getting food, knowing he would most likely end up eating everything if he even got a bite of anything. William and Caterina were idly chatting about a few topics he had never heard them speak of before.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure," Abel replied. He looked up and gave Niel a friendly smile. "By the way, good job on the sermon."

"You're just saying that," Niel said shaking his head in embarrassment. "If it weren't for that podium blocking my legs, you would have seen them shaking throughout the whole thing."

"Well you were better then I could ever hope to be," Abel remarked. Niel silently offered him a pastry but he refused by shaking his head. "So how's Levon?"

Almost immediately Niel's expression changed. "That reminds me Abel, if something ever happens to me can you promise me to take care of him?"

"What?"

"Levon is already nineteen years old. So even though I want to adopt him there's no point to it since he'll be twenty in less then a year. Levon is very rash for his age and still acts on instinct. I can't help but feel something bad will happen to him. I'll always be on his side, as will everyone from Lutetia but it never hurts to have more backup."

Abel blinked a few times, trying to get a grasp of the whole situation. Sighing he said, "I'll be there for him if you aren't. But you shouldn't worry to much. He's just at that rebellious age." Even as he said this he had a gut feeling that he was dead wrong. Something was going to happen to Levon. He just couldn't name it.

"Thank you," Niel sighed in relief. His shoulders sagged as he slumped down into his chair. "I can understand why someone like you is one of the popes agents. You're different somehow. You took care of one of the vampire groups on the first day then you left to find Lady Sforza, and somehow after you left we no longer had any incidents with the vampires. And now you also agreed to help Levon. I honestly don't know how I can repay you for all you have done."

"You think too highly of me. You should see what everyone here calls me," Abel joked. "There's no reason to repay me. A simply thanks is enough."

William began chuckling as he watched the two talk. Abel and Niel both looked up at him. Abel with a confused look, and Niel with a kind smile.

"That's a bit rude, don't you think Abel?" William asked, in teasing tones. "We never call you things that don't apply to you-"

"That's true-"

"You're William Walter Wordsworth!" Niel suddenly exclaimed. He stood up abruptly, causing his chair to fall back. He pointed a finger at William, "you're the man who wrote the book about perpetual cycles! If I remember correctly you and someone else wrote about it."

The cafeteria became quiet as everyone turned to look at Niel. Abel shot a smile at everyone who was now looking at them because of Niel's outburst. Everyone quickly looked away but he could have sworn he saw a slight blush on all the females faces. Turning back to his friends he shoved the thought to the back of his head and picked up Niel's chair. He silently listened to Niel and William begin talking about their theories.

He didn't know William was an author of a book.

"...but couldn't it also be said there's a wormhole?" Niel was saying.

"Ah yes, that's also a possibility but as I said at the beginning of my book, there's a cycle for every thing we do. Even if we are slowly developing and restoring lost technology, history will always repeat it's self," William countered. He was thoroughly enjoying talking to a man who seemed interested in his work. It was a good thing they weren't talking about robots. Otherwise William would end up talking about how great they were for a whole day before he actually listened to Niel.

"But if there's a wormhole then surely the cycle would be corrupted," Niel argued.

Abel snorted. "The only way that would be possible would be if someone tried time traveling to reverse the past. And it wouldn't be called a wormhole, I think void or possibly fold, would be the correct term for it. But the likely hood of that actually happening is one to a billion. Even if it did, who ever was involved with it would be trapped in a fold or void for at least a few years before they finally managed to get out of that prison and change the past. Truthfully I can't fathom how someone would purposefully break the universal cycle on purpose. But going back to the main topic, William is right in believing that a wormhole, as you like to call it, is not possible… unless of course someone outside of the cycle changes it. On the other hand going into the future is much easier."

Everyone looked at Abel in shock. Eyes wide and mouth gapped open.

"What? It's not like it's farfetched or anything," Abel huffed. He leaned back in his chair and silently told himself he was never going to offer his ideas ever again… then it hit him. Did he really just say that out loud? "Oh… hehehe," he chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. What possessed him to say that, anyway?

No one spoke up, as they had all lost their voice. Well, William and Caterina had, Niel on the other hand was lost in thought as he considered the possibilities. He was the only one not gapping at Abel. Finally Niel broke the silence.

"What do you mean by void or fold? Why wouldn't it be wormhole?" he questioned.

"Well you would need to find a wormhole to be able to do anything. But by fold, I mean a gap between the cycles. And the fold is basically a large never ending space between realities that is completely white. That's why I call it a void," Abel said nervously, lowering his voice a bit. He should have just said he didn't know anything and pretended as though he was only rambling about something.

"Oh," Niel said. He was silent for a second before another question came to him. "Why is going to the future easier?"

"Um, it just is," Abel said uncomfortably. He eyed Caterina and William who were both looking at him as though he had grown a second head. Curse his big mouth!

"Why?" Niel asked again, clearly impatient to hear the answer.

"Well the thing is people have been time traveling for every long time now. Even if it's only by a millisecond or so… The faster someone moves, the more time slows down. The same is said about how close someone is the equator of the earth. If I were in a ship, traveling to the empire, my watch would be slower than one that is stationery. But the time would only be off by a second at most. Oh and since time goes by slower the closer someone is the middle of earth, if they are in space time goes by faster. You wouldn't age faster or anything, but if you had a watch with you it would be moving faster."

"Okay, you lost me at the space part. Human's can't travel into space. At least not anymore. How would you know if time passed by quicker in spac, if you've never been there before? You have no proof," Niel said.

"It is only a theory," Abel muttered. Sure he didn't have proof, but he had been to space before. Hell, he had lived at mars for how long…? Abel shook his head, it would only make him feel older if he did the math. When he and the colonists left mars they had no idea how much time they had spent there. It seemed like a really long time to them but the truth was even those who weren't fused with the basilisk weren't aging as fast as everyone thought they should. The food they had was only supposed to last for twenty years but they had somehow managed to make it last much longer. So long in fact that by the time they returned to Earth, Armageddon had already happened and the humans were already into their second generation after it.

"For a theory, you obviously put a lot of thought on it," Niel asserted. He turned back to William and finally realized the shocked look on his and Caterina's faces. "Are you two okay?"

"Yes."

"It's rare for him to have a burst of intelligence," William explained.

"The longer you're around him the more you'll notice his split personalities," Caterina added. "Though I must admit I've never talked to his intelligent side."

"I don't have a split personality," Abel muttered.

"Then what would you call it?" William asked.

"I'd call it, my personality," Abel huffed. Weird thing was, he really did have a split personality. Only, no one had met it yet. Caterina had seen the crusnik but she hadn't actually talked to 02 yet; and he preferred it that way.

"Mmm-hmm," Caterina mumbled sarcastically. "Whatever you say." There was a small twinkle in her eye as she continued grinning at Abel. He shivered, knowing what that smile meant. "Maybe you should write a book about it. At least then people will stop calling you a complete idiot." Despite the fact it was a mere joke, the way she said it made it sound more like a civilized comment.

"Don't push it," Abel growled back, but he was smiling, showing he was also joking. In the past month he had begun listening to everything Caterina had to say. And more often than not, he ended up doing whatever it was she told him to. He didn't want a repeat of Lutetia.

"To bad. I was hoping it would shed some light on the mystery of Abel Nightroad," Caterina sighed in mock defeat.

"So now I'm a mystery? What happened to being an idiot?"

William chuckled and finally took out his pipe. He didn't light it but did put it between his teeth. "For starters you always avoid questions about your age. You never talk about where you're from, but I'm guessing Londinium since your accent is flawless. You don't talk about family, split personality, wear glasses that you don't really need, you have silver hair, some of the things you say have double meanings…" William stopped his long list of things Abel did. He quirked an eye brow at the last one. William didn't think Abel wanted people to know about his double meaning sentences. They were so well hidden that even he had a hard time deciphering them at times.

"I don't have a split personality, I wear glasses because I was told I needed them, and I was born with silver hair," Abel listed. "Does that answer some of your questions?"

"Does your parents have silver hair or something? Or were you just born stressed?" Niel questioned, quickly catching on to what William and Caterina were doing.

The reaction was not what they expected. Abel's face went from confusion, to understanding, then anger, and finally he burst out laughing. He clutched his stomach as tried holding it in but alas he couldn't and let it out. The idea of having a parent was foreign to him. It never even crossed his mind. Instead of parents he had scientists poking and prodding him. "Parents," Abel choked out then began laughing again. He never laughed this hard before but it was just to funny.

The three humans looked at Abel quizzically. Wondering if he had finally gone insane. "Is he okay?" They all asked each other in unison. For once Caterina's voice sounded like a normal teen's voice.

"A-and you think I-I have si-silver hair cause I was born stressed!" Abel said as he gasped for air. He finally managed to regain his compositor but he still had a wide smile on his face. "My sister used to say something similar, but I never expected a human to say that. At least not in this time." He tried explaining.

Caterina rolled her eyes as she chuckled lightly. Niel was patting Abel on the back in time with his laughter. William had taken his pipe out of his mouth and had a smirk on his face. He mentally filed everything he had just learned from Abel.

* * *

**A/N:** So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Please review to give me your opinion.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: And this is the chapter that I needed to rewrite three times. I really hate my flash drive, still can't believe it crashed on me! Well here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy Caterina's birthday party. **

(Two Months Later: November)

XXX

Caterina shivered against the cold as she wrapped the blanket tightly around herself. Winter was approaching sooner than it should have. Caterina sighed as she tucked her head under the blanket, wanting nothing more than to just curl up for the rest of the day.

For years Caterina had lived with her mother and her step father, not knowing that everything would change when she was only fifteen years old. May 3051 that was when everything changed, her parents died, the servants slaughtered, and she lived. How was she expected to live to see yet another birthday... this time without any of the people she grew up with? If she did celebrate her birthday there would be no familiar faces among the crowd. Everyone she knew from Milan were gone. Of course her real Father might not even know it was her birthday today, a part of her wished this was the case.

"Caterina we have lessons today," William called through the door.

Of course; _lessons_. Caterina quickly dismissed all thoughts on her birthday, she didn't want to celebrate it anyway. It would only remind her of happier times.

"Coming," she called as she pushed the blankets away and quickly got changed into something more appropriate. She'd be damned if she walked out with her night gown. "So what are we doing today?" asked Caterina as she closed the door and entered the suite.

"I thought we would simply go over your papers and complete what you haven't done. It wouldn't be a good idea to get too ahead of the other students at the university," William winked at her. He pulled out a chair for her to sit on before finding himself a seat. As usual Abel wasn't there so Havel had probably gone out to get him.

Caterina shook her head with a small smirk as she pulled out a drawer and retrieved a binder with all her assignments from the university.

The door swung open and Caterina looked up. "Who's bloody idea was it to wake up at eight in the morning?" Abel grumbled as he entered the suite. Havel was right behind him.

"You wouldn't be so tired if you went to sleep early," William commented. He didn't even bother looking up from the papers he was grading.

"I'm nocturnal, it's only natural for me to sleep during the day," Abel said seriously but had a smirk on his face.

"If you say so, my friend," William said.

Abel sighed, "would it have killed you to let me sleep for a few more minutes?"

"What were you doing last night?" Caterina asked. Now that she looked at him, he really did look tired.

Abel yawned again as he withdrew a few papers. "I was running a few errands for the pope," Abel replied. Caterina gave him a questioning look. Usually one of the brothers or nuns would do that. "He had a meeting with them all, and since I'm not technically a member of the church he asked me to do it," he continued, seeming to realize her unasked question.

"Oh," nodded Caterina.

XXX

(Elsewhere with Levon)

Levon ran a hand threw his wavy brown hair. Over the past few months it had grown by a few inches. Not that he cared right now… No, right now he had more things to worry about than a simple hair cut. Today he needed to prepare himself for tomorrow. After all, it was the turning point in his life.

All the training and vigorous drills he had run through was finally going to pay off. There was no turning back now. Tomorrow he would be eliminating the village he was now staying at. Truthfully he didn't want to stain his hands with the blood of these people but his mission was clear. He needed to kill these people or he would be the one paying the consequences.

Oh how low he has stooped! Levon ground his teeth. What he would give right now to be given the location and name of his boss! He always knew joining the army was a bad idea but signing on as a suicide bomber was an even worse idea! But... it was okay to kill these people right? Didn't they deserve it? They were vampires! He was doing the world a favor by killing these monsters. Wasn't he? Besides he needed the money!

"Then why do I feel like crap?" Levon asked himself. Damn it! If only he hadn't come into this village before his mission's due date. At least then he wouldn't be regretting this as much as he was now.

The village in question was composed of vampires and a few humans. Right now Levon was the only one not apart of this village… and yet they treated him so well. Even the other human's were treated as the vampire's equal. Levon sighed as he idly flipped a bomb between his fingers. According to his resources this village was one of the key locations for trading weapons and drugs between the empire and Albion. He also received some news that one of the villagers had tried to kill one of the Germanic representatives a while back, but had gotten no evidence to back that up.

XXX

"A break?" Caterina repeated. They had never taken a break while studying unless it was to eat. She looked over at her father and Alessandro who had stopped by an hour ago.

"Why not?" William asked. "We've been cooped up in this room for a while now."

"But what would we do?" Caterina questioned. The professor couldn't be serious, could he? William was always the one hounding her and Abel about school work, and now he was asking them if they wanted to take a break? There must be catch.

The Pope stood up from where he was sitting, a kind smile played on his face. Alessandro hugged his father's leg. "I propose a game," her Father said playfully. Caterina raised an eye brow and scanned the faces of everyone in the room, no one seemed surprised about this except her. What was going on here?! "Now while I realize we've known each other for half a year, I also know that we don't know each other out of work related things. So we'll play a dare game," he announced happily.

"What? I thought it was a scavenger hunt!" Abel yelped.

"Now how would that be fair to the others if you already knew what we were playing?" Gregorio teased as Abel continued sputtering. "Part of it is a scavenger hunt. I have here, two dozen cards. Each of them has a dare on it. The object of the game is to complete all the dares before the other group."

"But how would you know if we actually did the dare?" Caterina questioned.

"Most of these involve getting an item or having someone else see you do the dare," the Pope said simply. "If you don't do one of them, I'll know."

"So you'll be acting as the referee?" William asked as he pocketed his pipe.

"Of course."

"And the teams?" questioned Havel.

"Abel and William will be together with me, but I'll only be following. The other team is Caterina, Havel and Alessandro."

Caterina frowned, she wanted to be with Abel. Even though she talked to him more than Havel and William combined, she didn't feel like she knew Abel at all. The man was surrounded by mysteries. Each answer she got just made her think of a hundred more. The only solid bit of information she had on him was that he was a crusnik, whatever that was. No matter who she asked or what book she looked at she couldn't find anything about crusniks.

"Are you okay, lady Caterina?"

Caterina blinked. She hadn't even realized that she had been glaring at Abel as she thought about him. Blushing, she quickly looked away. "I'm fine!" she stated.

"Uh-huh…" Abel said. She could still feel his eyes boring into her head. _Eyes! _That reminded her; he didn't even wear his glasses all the time! That silver headed liar, said he needed his glasses! His eyes sight was supposed to be 0.001! How could someone's eyesight be that bad anyway? If his eyes were that bad he'd be blind right now!

That fool! Always smiling when other's were looking but when they weren't he always had such a sorrowful expression on his face. His eyes told numerous stories of one who had weathered many years, they didn't even match his youthful face. His eyes always contrasted deeply with the smile he wore on his face, almost as if he was nothing but an act, the shell of someone he really wasn't.

"You don't seem fine," Abel stated after a while. Apparently Caterina had started glaring at his foot.

"When can we start this game?" Caterina asked, a bit peeved that she had ever considered wanting to be in Abel's group. He was so infuriating! She couldn't figure him out no matter how hard she tried.

"Right now," her father answered, handing her the cards.

XXX

(With Levon)

Skirting around a hut, Levon quickly ducked behind a few barrels. He fished out a bomb from his messengers bag, and planted it on the wall. It was timed to go off in exactly twelve hours. With each bomb he planted an apology came to mind, but he quickly stomped it down. He couldn't regret his decision now. Besides, he already rigged all the buildings with bombs.

This really was a beautiful village. It was small and near a forest, it reminded him a little of Lutetia. The only major difference was that these buildings were more like shacks made up of palm leaves and branches. It blended in almost perfectly with the forest that surrounded it.

Sighing, Levon stood up and dusted himself off. Now all that was left, was to set up a few bombs in the tree's. He casually walked away from the barrels, shooting friendly smiles at the unawakened vampires that were roaming around despite the sun. Most of them were about his age and had talked to him on more than one occasion. One vampire in particular wouldn't leave him alone. Each time she saw him, she'd always have a new question to ask.

Levon climbed over the large hill and looked back at the village. If anything, the one that he would regret killing the most was her.

Levon soon found his eyes fluttering closed. He still had another twelve hours to set the last few bombs. All this thinking was making him tired. Closing his eyes he fell into a fitful sleep. Hopefully, his mission would proceed without trouble tomorrow.

XXX

"Sweet bread, check. Rubber band, check. Lighter, check. We've already gotten an item belonging to the sisters…"

"A-and we de-delivered t-t-the clothes," Alec added, a slight blush creeping into his face. One of the dares involved wearing someone else's clothes while they asked around for who it belonged to.

"Yes," Caterina nodded. "We also ate a piece of our father's candy, and we stole an item belonging to Abel," she frowned at that one. In the end they had grabbed the first item they saw his room, that being a pen.

"And don't forget we pulled a prank on the guards," Havel sighed.

"We didn't, you did," Caterina corrected. There was no way, she was going to take the credit for tricking the guards that the Pope was in danger. Even if it was hilarious…

"What's next o-one on the list?" Alec questioned as he peered around Caterina.

"Retrieve the pope's bible from the pool while singing hymns," Caterina summed up. "And for the last dare we need to return to our rooms… It doesn't say why, but I'm guessing we're doing the twelfth dare on our own."

Havel chuckled, "alright." he nodded. "You two go back to your rooms. I'll get the bible."

"Thanks brother Havel," Caterina said as she took Alec's hand and began retreating to the right wing where their rooms where. "We'll meet you when we tell Father that we've completed the dares!"

Caterina quickly turned her head away, a slight blush on her face. She hadn't been this happy since before her parents died…

XXX

_Blood… death… something big was going to happen. _Abel restlessly looked out of the window._ This was the same feeling he had before he met Caterina! Damn it! Why couldn't he describe this feeling? Bodies littered the ground, some of them missing limbs. The delicious smell of methuselah blood wafted to him._

_He had the power to stop whatever was going to happen, so why couldn't he just remember? Wait, 'remember'? This wasn't a memory! It was a feeling! _

_Whatever was going to happen needed to happen for the future. It wasn't too bad that he knew this, hell, if anything this was a good sign. It proved that his thesis was correct. _

_Then why did he feel like he needed to do something? And what's this about a thesis? Hell, this wasn't some science project! _

Abel blinked and let out a long sigh. He was just tired, was all. Nothing was going to happen. People couldn't predict the future, and Abel sure as hell wasn't a fortune teller. Abel chuckled as he scratched the grey ball of fur behind it's ear. The pope had agreed that giving Caterina a pet would be a great idea. 'Plus it will solve our rat problem,' the pope had said.

"She's coming!"

"Quick, act like we're not doing anything!"

"Do we have everything ready?"

"Of course we do! Now shush!"

Picking up the kitten, Abel weaved in and out the crowd. The kitten had long grey fur that colored it's whole pelt except for it's paws which were white. It's eyes were green, but when Abel had found it, the kitten hadn't opened her eyes yet as she had been a new born. Now it was a week old, and much healthier than the condition she had been in a week before.

The nuns and priests scattered around the ball room and quickly gathered into small groups. All of them had helped in preparing for Caterina' birthday, though it was more of a friendly gathering than a party.

"You seem jumpy," William commented.

"I do?" Abel asked dumbly, turning to face the professor. "It must be because of this thing," he said, nudging his shoulder to indicate the kitten.

"Abel, it's not a thing, it's a kitten," William said with amusement.

"I'll keep calling it a 'thing,' until Caterina names the fur ball."

William nodded, dropping the topic. "So I take it you're the one who did all this last night? It's no wonder you're tired."

"I wouldn't say I did _all_ of it, but I did help like everyone else here," Abel admitted. Though he did more than the average person. The pope had practically thrown Abel into the ball room and told him to set it up before retreating back into his office. Then Abel had told Kate about Caterina's birthday and from there it escalated to what it is now.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," William said. He took out his pipe but didn't light it.

"You only think that because you give me to much," Abel shrugged as he turned his eyes to the large doors. The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall and everyone else silenced. They had all agreed to not scare the poor girl, but Abel had a feeling it had more to do with Alessandro's jumpy personality.

"I'm afraid I'll never understand you fully," sighed William. As he said this the doors opened revealing Caterina, Alessandro, and Havel. Out of the three of them, Caterina looked the most confused, though that was understandable considering she was the only one unaware of this party.

"What?" Caterina questioned, she looked around the room, her eyes skirting around the different faces and the decoration… and was that a cake? The roof was lined in red and gold steamers, all meeting at the middle of the roof where the chandelier was. The ball room was unusually dark and the only thing that lit it was the lights from a Christmas tree Abel had wired through the room. The lights made the streamers appear as if it where glowing and it was the only thing the humans in the room could see clearly.

Caterina turned to Havel, "what's this all about?"

"What does it look like?" Abel asked before Havel could answer. The rest of the room began their conversations again. Some of them scattered themselves around Caterina so that they could talk to her once Abel was done but kept a respectful distance away.

"It looks like a party," Caterina stated after a while.

"And why would we have a party on the twenty-eighth of November?"

"I have no clue," Caterina replied.

"You don't? Why, I could have sworn it was your birthday today," Abel said. His eyes twinkled with amusement but he looked from William to Havel with a questioning expression.

"But I never…"

"You never had to say anything. What do you take us for? Idiots?" Abel asked.

"No…"

William chuckled, "Abel, I think that's enough fooling around." He put a hand on Abel's shoulder. "She still has guests who would like to talk to her."

"Alright," Abel sighed, "but before I go, I'm giving you this."

Caterina raised her eye brow. She glanced at the kitten Abel was carrying. "Where did you find it?"

"The gardens. It was abandoned by it's mother. I tried turning it into the animal shelters but they all refused to take it in," Abel stated. "After talking to your father, he thought I should give it to you."

"Why?"

"Something about responsibility," Abel chuckled, remembering what the pope had said.

'Abel, animal's have souls too, and each living creature has a place in God's kingdom. If you don't want it then… then give it to Caterina. Why I remember my father had a pet once. He had bought it from the Germanic kingdom. A beautiful tiger, that creature was. One of the last of it's kind,' was what the pope had said before Abel lost interest.

"Thank you," Caterina said, taking the kitten out of Abel's hold.

Abel nodded, "do you know what to name it?"

"Bianca," Caterina answered quickly.

"Bianca?" Abel repeated.

"It was my mother's nickname," she admitted. "Maybe I shouldn't be holding onto the past so much…"

"I think it's a beautiful name," William suddenly said, giving Caterina a kind smile.

"Sometimes," Abel began, "we need to remember the past because that's what makes us who we are today. It might hurt sometimes, but you can't simply forget about the past. It's there, it happened, and it'll help you in the future."

"You know, you should really try giving a speech. You're very inspirational," Caterina teased, as she quickly whipped her eyes that were getting watery.

"A goof like me? I'd get laughed at before I even got my first word out," Abel joked. "But seriously, lady Caterina, it never hurts to remember your loved ones. At least you know you've always been loved and still will be, right?" Abel turned.

"Wait!" Caterina called, but Abel continued walking through the ocean of people. Caterina sighed, why did he say that with so much emotion?

"Ah, so you're Father's other child, Caterina Sforza," a man interrupted her thoughts and appeared right besides her.

Caterina turned to him, the way he said that made it seem as though he were looking down on her. "And I take it you're Francesco di Medici. It's nice to finally meet you, brother." Caterina delicately lifted her hand for the man to shake. He looked to be about the same age as Abel. His hair was black, and he had eyes that mirrored Caterina's own. His face looked as if it had been chiseled to remain in a frown, his high cheek bones didn't help his expression.

Raising an eye brow, Francesco didn't take her hand. Instead he continued looking down his pointed nose at her. "How have you liked Rome so far? It must be quite different from the life you lived in Milan. I hear there's quite a lot of drifters."

"I've never noticed any uncivilized people in Milan. Perhaps you have your information mixed up," Caterina stated. If he was trying to get on her nerves, it was going to take a lot more than that.

"I suppose you're right, next time I'll be sure to keep my facts straight. Come Alessandro," Francesco called their brother and put a hand on the smaller boys shoulder.

Caterina didn't miss the look of horror on her younger brother's face and the flinch when Francesco put his hand on Alec's shoulder. Caterina looked to her father for help, obviously Alec didn't want to go with Francesco, however the pope wasn't looking and was instead talking to a few cardinals.

"Where are you going?" Caterina asked, allowing a bit a venom to seep into her voice.

"Simply to get our food," Francesco responded as if talking to a child.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I've already agreed to eat with him, tonight," Caterina said.

"Why don't we let him decide?" Francesco didn't release his grip on Alec's shoulder.

Poor Alec looked to scared to add in his own thoughts. He looked from one sibling to the other as he followed their conversation and now that he was being dragged into this conversation he didn't know what to say. Either way, he wouldn't be happy. If he said he wanted to go with Caterina then Francesco would yell at him, but if he did go with his brother than he'd be in for some yelling anyway.

"Well, speak up!" Francesco growled, already growing impatient. Caterina glared at him. Would it kill him to be patient?

"I-I w-want-"

"We can't hear you!"

"I want to go with my sister!" Alec screamed. His eyes widened as soon as the words escaped his mouth and looked at his brother in fear as his body shrank away from Francesco.

Caterina smirked. First point goes to her. She didn't know what was wrong with Francesco, but something about him got on her nerves. "Great," Caterina took Alec's hand. "You're welcome to join us if you'd like," she added to Francesco.

"No thank you."

XXX

(Elsewhere with Levon)

Levon twisted in his sleep as a cold gust of wind hit his skin. "What?" Levon slowly opened his eyes to the darkness. _What time was it?_ He found himself wondering as he got up and shook of the dead leaves that hung to his shirt and pants. "Might as well get back to work," he grumbled and attached a bomb to the tree he had just slept by.

Sometimes it was good to be in autopilot. His body was working on it's own accord and he didn't need to think about any of it… of course he'd be concerned about the guilt that was to come as soon as they bombs set off. Levon frowned, he dug himself into a very deep hole, and he knew it.

* * *

**A/N: **I've got nothing much to say, except the next chapter will be on by next weekend. Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

(Two Week later)

"We can't just sit around doing nothing!" Abel yelled, slamming his hands on the pope's desk. He stood, glaring at Gregorio for not understanding the magnitude of recent events. People died, and the man was doing nothing to help!

Gregorio met Abel's gaze with a calm one. "You seem to have forgotten that I'm in charge here," he hissed. "I've done everything in my power to help."

"By giving the Hispanic government money?" Abel questioned incredulously. "Don't you see? They're using the Vatican's money to hire more troops! You're not helping matters, you're making it worse! These villages need help! Not an armed army ready to shoot them!"

"Silence, Nightlord!" Gregorio ordered. He stood up abruptly and leaned toward Abel.

Abel bristled, "that's not my name."

"What you're spouting it total blasphemy! Those troops are there to protect the villagers, not attack them!" The pope continued as if Abel hadn't just barred his fangs at him.

"That's not what all the reports are saying! Two weeks ago, on the 29th, we received news that there was a fire in the forest. It wasn't until five days later that we learned a whole village was massacred along with ten other villages!" Abel yelled, slamming a folder on the popes desk. "Then the vatican sends money to their government, and we get reports two days later that people have been found, burned, injured, _dead_!" Abel stopped to catch his breath. "Your Holiness, with all due respect, you're funding these men to kill innocent people!"

"Get out!"

"I will not!" The door creaked open but Abel ignored it, guessing that it was just the wind. "The least you could do is send me to Hispania ."

"No, you need to guard Caterina. There's still people after her."

"No one's attacked her since I saved her from Milan!" Abel argued. Okay that was a lie, no one had attacked with the attention of harming her since the Lutetia incident, but the pope didn't need to know that. "William and Havel can do that just fine." With the way the Pope was acting, Abel was surprised that this was the same man who had acted like a party animal during Caterina's party.

"Get out, Nightroad!" the pope boomed, pointing a thin finger toward the door. "That's an order."

Abel grit his teeth, he stood up straight but still glared at the Pope. Humans were so hard headed! Why couldn't they just admit that what they had done was wrong and do something to fix it? Abel put his hand to the door but before he could open it, it swung open. He mentally groaned.

What now? This had better not be more reports about missing people.

"Father, why don't you send Abel to Hispania?" Caterina asked, barging into the room. She forced Abel to take a step back as the she strode past him and took the same position he had over the Pope's desk.

Abel's eyes widened. Caterina shouldn't have heard their conversation! Abel looked back toward the door to see William smoking his pipe and looking at the pope with curiosity.

"Sorry, but you were yelling," William explained shortly. Abel turned back to the pope to see his face turning red. He couldn't help but think that Gregorio acted like an over grown, spoiled brat.

"Very well," Gregorio growled, eyes locked on Caterina. "I'll send him to Hispania, but on one condition. You need to go with him."

"Are you crazy!" Abel snapped, turning away from William fully. "She's just a child, and yours on top of that!"

"You will not talk to me like that, Nightroad," Gregorio ordered, eyes narrowing on him. "I thought you wanted to go."

"She's just a child! And I do want to go but-"

"Well, here's your chance. I'm allowing you to go, but you need to take Caterina with you."

"You can't do that!" Abel yelled. "I'm not putting another life in danger."

"Then you can't go."

"Abel, it's okay, I want to go," Caterina interrupted. She looked up at Abel with fierce determination.

"Then it's settled. I'll arrange for your traveling expenses," Gregorio stated as he sat back down.

"I didn't agree to this!" Abel stated.

"My daughter has made her choice. She's going," Gregorio stated. "Or are you saying that my daughter is incapable of making her own decisions?"

"Of course not!"

"Then let it be. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. You two will meet up with a few members from another church. They have a few different beliefs from the vatican, but they will help you. They have a safe house so Caterina will be well guarded." Gregorio seemed much more calm as he said this. "I'll also send Havel with you, and if William wants, he may go." The pope looked to William for an answer.

"Why not," William shrugged nonchalantly.

"You've got to be kidding me," Abel muttered darkly. He would have gone even if the pope hadn't given his permission, but now Caterina and William were going too? He'd seen the way William fought, but that was hardly enough to protect him against guns. Caterina didn't know how to defend herself at all and Havel… well, at least he was more competent.

"You've got your wish, Abel, now get ready." Gregorio said with authority, but had a teasing look on his face as if telling Abel had just won the argument.

'Childish human,' Abel thought to himself as he spun on his heels and exited the office.

That man was crazy! Sending his own daughter into war grounds! Abel strode down the hall and into his room to get dressed and packed. What was Caterina thinking, agreeing to go with him? Didn't she realize that that place could be her death? Hispania was anything but safe! Especially with the happenings of recent events.

How did Gregorio expect him to get any information now that Caterina was coming anyway? Abel might as well wear a sign saying,_ "I'm a spy from the vatican, arrest me!"_ Abel slid a drawer open and retrieved his gun and magazines.

"Abel Nightroad, his Holiness wishes me to give you this," one of the brothers knocked on his door.

Taking the envelope, Abel thanked the boy and headed back into the room. The letter clearly stated that transportation had already been arranged. Enfolded in it was a ticket. Caterina, William and Havel must have received their own. They would need to take a carriage to the outskirts of Hispania territory then take a bus the rest of the way.

Abel slipped the ticket and letter into his back pocket before grabbing his coat and heading outside. It seemed the Pope was more worried about this than he let on as he had arranged for the quickest mode of transportation. They would arrive at Hispania in a days time.

By the time Abel got to the vatican's gate, Caterina, William, and Havel, were already seated in a two horse carriage. Abel nodded to the coachman before sliding into the carriage next to Caterina.

"Did you bring everything you needed?" William asked, eyeing Abel's bag with curiosity.

"Did you?" questioned Abel as the carriage lurched forward. Truth be told the only thing in his bag were a few identification papers, ammo for his gun, and a book.

"I certainly packed more than you did," William stated with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You do realize that this is a very poor country we're going to, right? Food and shelter might not be provided."

Abel shrugged, "then I guess it's a good thing I ate breakfast."

"What about your identification forms?" Havel asked. They would need it in order to pass the border.

Abel felt like laughing. He wasn't even sure if the UN created a birth certificate for him. With the way he was '_born_,' they didn't consider him human. If anything, the UN would have had documents giving them full ownership of him. Abel mentally frowned, he wasn't anyone's pet!

"In my bag," Abel answered with a smile. No one would have guessed what he was justing thinking about, and he preferred it that way.

A mask. That's all he was. No one in the vatican would ever know or understand the true him. Abel sighed and leaned back as the usual wave of motion sickness washed over him. _'Maybe,_' Abel thought, _'maybe I'm even a stranger to myself. The past has come and gone. Now all I have to look forward to is the future. Yet the future doesn't seem as mysterious to me as it should. Ah, it must be my old age getting to me...' _

After a few head pounding hours they finally reached the border of Hispania. The four filed out of the carriage and the coachman turned the horses around to head back to the vatican.

Armed men could be seen eyeing them and a few other civilians from where they sat or stood. A little bit away an elderly lady was being pushed toward a crowd of people with a gun pointed at her back. Abel let a slight frown show on his face as another armed man approached him.

"What's your business in Hispania," the armed man asked in gruff tones. He held his gun in front of his chest as if ready to shoot Abel or any of his companions. Like most of the other people here, he had black hair, tanned skin and wore a suit for military personnel.

"We're from the-" Abel clamped a hand over Caterina's mouth. It was dangerous tell these men they were from the vatian. The sentry would become suspicious of their reasoning for being here if they did.

"We're here to visit a few friends," Abel lied. "May we pass?"

"I'll need to ask for your identification certificates," the man said

Abel fished out his papers as the other three handed theirs to the man. The armed man nodded as he slowly flipped through each individual document and would sometimes hold it up to the sun to get a better look. "Good, you three may pass." He nodded his head to an old dirty looking bus as he passed back their papers. "And yours?" he opened his hand for Abel's paper. Unlike the other three he didn't flip through all the papers and spent less time looking at them. "Another one," he growled with a feral grin and shoved the papers back into Abel's chest. "Over there!" he ordered, pointing toward the crowd the elderly lady had gone to a few minutes prior.

"He's with us. Where are you taking him?" Caterina demanded, glaring at the man. Abel shot her a warning look, silently telling her not to raise her voice to these men.

"He's a spy, and spy's will be dealt with accordingly." Just as the man said this, a teen ran past Abel with a child held in his arms. Abel watched in horror as the troops all raised their guns, aimed and fired. The teen fell and the child fell out of his arms crying and holding the teenager's hand as he cried for him to wake up.

The troops aimed for the boy. "Stop!" Abel ordered, ripping his wrist away from the sentry and making his way toward the child.

"That man was a rebel and his child deserves the same punishment as his father," the sentry stated. "However I never expected someone to stick up for a criminal." The man smiled as he raised his gun and aimed at Abel. At his motion the surrounding troops also raised their guns.

XXX

Caterina woke up with a start. She breathed in heavily as she remembered the following days events. Shaking her head, Caterina pushed a few loose strands of blond hair behind her ear. She was still dressed in the casual clothes she had worn the day before, when- when… Caterina shook her head.

Abel… he had been shot… multiple times. And-and his body was dragged onto a cart with other civilians that had been shot right in front of her eyes… This truly was a cruel world she lived in.

She, William, and Havel, had arrived at the Hispanic church the night before. Only a few sisters and one priest worked in this village. The church workers had been here before the bombing even started. Their whole purpose was to help the villagers who didn't have enough resources to provide for their children. Of course, living here also forced the sisters and priest to live in poverty. Water here was scarce and food was even harder to come by.

"Oh hello," an elderly woman said. Caterina just managed to stop herself from colliding with the elderly woman. She held a baby with one arm and her hip, while her other arm was holding a basket filled with clothes.

"Sister Roswitha, let me help you with that!" Caterina said, quickly making her way to the nun.

"That's alright, I can at least do this much. Why don't you get something to eat?" Roswitha suggested.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden," Caterina said, taking in the kind appearance of the sister. Roswitha was the oldest that worked for the church here. She had pure white hair and light blue eyes. If Caterina didn't know any better she'd say Roswitha was Abel's grandmother. Her hair was short and curled in large ringlets around her head. Unlike nuns at the Vatican, she didn't wear a habit. Instead she wore a simple sky blue shirt and tan shorts.

At the vatican it was mandatory to wear the traditional cassocks and habits. However the church members here found that reasoning foolish. Caterina could understand their reasoning. The habit and cassock were hot, and tended to keep all the heat in. With the weather in Hispania, wearing the usual church attire was suicidal.

"That's silly dear. You aren't being a burden," Roswitha stated. "But if you insist I suppose you can take this little rascal off my hands."

"Sure," Caterina nodded as she took the child out of Roswitha's arm. "I'll take her down to the nursery."

"Thank you dear, but make sure you eat once you're done."

"I will," Caterina agreed. She gave a slight bow before turning down the opposite hall.

Setting the sleeping child on one of the beds, Caterina sighed at the sight of the other children. They were all younger than her and had experienced the same thing she had; the loss of their parents. Some of them weren't as lucky as she was and managed to escape but at the cost of a limb. Caterina's eyes glided around the room a second longer before landing on yet another sister.

Sister Sabine. She was the youngest out of the four workers here, and although she was thirty three she looked much younger. Much like sister Roswitha, Sabine wore simple clothing. Her golden hair framed her pale skin and her brown eyes were locked on the prosthetic arm she was working on.

"Good morning," Caterina said quietly, as to not wake up the sleeping children.

"Morning, lady Caterina. How have you been holding up?" Sabine asked, not taking her eyes off of the prosthetic arm she held.

"I'm fine," Caterina said, though it felt like a lie. _Abel was- was..._

"You're lying," Sabine chuckled. " I've dealt with a lot of kids in the past years. I know when one's lying or not," Sabine said in a motherly tone. She put the prosthetic arm next to the child who was missing their right arm, from the elbow down. Frowning, Sabine tinkered with it a little more and made the adjustments needed before putting it down and looking at Caterina. She raised an eyebrow, "mind telling me what's on your mind? Does this have to do with your other companion that didn't get here?"

Caterina looked down, thankful that her bangs could cover her eyes and nodded. "I thought as much," Sabine sighed. "He was shot, wasn't he?" Again Caterina nodded. "The Hispanic government isn't as fair as other countries," Sabine sighed tiredly. "They take from the villagers with no remorse and those who decide to speak up either die or go missing. Then the government asks for help and when money is sent they use it to provide weapons for the troops." Sabine stretched and stood up, "if it helps do you want us to pray together for him?"

"Thank you for the offer," Caterina said. She followed the sister out of the room. "So how long have you been working here?" she asked, not wanting them to lapse into an uncomfortable silence or continue their conversation about the Hispanic government. Things were much to dreary as it was.

"About five years ago," Sabine said thoughtfully. "Back then I none of us knew what we were in for, except Roswitha. She's done many foreign missions before this one."

"Why call it a foreign mission?" questioned Caterina.

"All four of us, Roswitha, Victoria, Gabriel, and I, come from the Germanic kingdom. So going to different parts of the continent that's not part of the peace treaty is foreign. Our goal is to help those who need it.

"That's a good ambition to have," Caterina commented just as they entered the lunch room. Unlike the other rooms, this one didn't have a solid roof, instead a thin bed sheet blocked out the sun. According the sisters their church didn't make enough money to get the roof repaired.

XXX

_'What's that nauseating smell,' _Abel thought to himself as he pushed himself up and put a hand to his head to stop the pounding. Looking up, his eyes widened at the sight of bodies littering the dirt hills. Many of them were burned, shot and headless. It looked like a garbage dump made up of humans. Abel nearly blanched at the sight. He shook his head. He had seen worse. Sighing at the sight of so many people, gone, shook his soul. Many of them hadn't even reached their forties yet.

Standing, Abel noticed a few bullets dropping on the hill he was on. Somehow the crusnik had pushed all of the bullets out of his flesh. Now the only signs of him ever being in this dump were the bullets that littered the ground where he had been laying. Abel raised an eyebrow, that was a first. Usually he would need to remove them himself.

Snap *Flash* Abel flinched back as an extremely bright light blinded him for a moment.

"I've heard stories of zombies, but this is just ridiculous," a person said.

Abel turned the voice with a slight frown on his face. "I'm not a zombie," Abel stated as he stared at the man. Surprisingly this man held an old relic from pre-armageddon, a digital camera. It wasn't one of the simple box cameras that people had somehow recreated from the early 1900's.

The man shrugged and turned away from Abel before zooming in on another dead body and taking a picture of the person's face. "Well you're one lucky person if you somehow ended up here and not dead," the man said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Luck?" Abel questioned. Since when had be been lucky? If Abel had been lucky he would have never been fused with the crusnik and those bullets would have killed him.

"What else would it be? A miracle?" the man scoffed and shuffled to a few other nameless faces. The man pushed a strand of black hair away from his brownish red eyes. Leveling the camera, he snapped a few more pictures of the bodies. He stuffed the small camera in his pocket along with his hands. The man turned back to Abel with a dead look in his eye.

Abel froze at the sight. For someone so young to have that look- something horrible must have happened to him recently. "Miracles," the man repeated. "If a thing such as miracles really did exist then God would too, but look where he got me," he mumbled to himself.

"Ah, do you know where I am?" Abel asked, realizing that the man was walking away quickly. Abel didn't want to push the man to far, so he decided to pretend that he hadn't heard his whispered words.

"Look around you. You're in a dump," the man said without stopping and continued his trek down the dirt road.

Abel snorted, that was quite obvious. Were all humans here this rude? "Where are you going?"

"Down this road."

"Does it lead to a village?"

"Look," the man snapped. "Would you please shut up? A village is right around that corner, and over there is a military base. Now please leave me alone."

"Thank you. Oh, where are my manners? I'm Abel Nightroad. What's-"

"Gabriel!" he shouted spinning on his heals and began to walk faster.

_'Wasn't that the name of the priest that was supposed to work at the church here?'_ Abel thought to himself then shrugged. Why would he care anyway? As far as Abel was concerned, the man seemed perfectly fine, albeit a bit upset but still fine. Besides, hadn't Gabriel told him to leave him alone?

Stretching an arm over his head, Abel went down the path leading toward the military base. He would meet up with Caterina and the other's later. For now, he would take care of something that had been nagging him since he heard about the recent bombings.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry! I honestly didn't expect this chapter to take a month! A month! Can you believe it?! I haven't had much time to myself recently, and with school and sports, writing has been the last thing on my mind. Again, I'm really sorry.

**Gamer479:** Thanks for the review. If I didn't get it, I honestly don't think I would have noticed how much time passed.


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